Lost
by Stigma
Summary: Naruto was exiled from the village long ago. Someone went to retrieve him and spent many years doing so. Will she ever find him? NaruHina
1. Entrance! Super Cool Kickass hero!

Yo! Had a passing fancy to do another story, so here it is! I plan on this being a 'take the edge off' story, with much shorter chapters and the like. So enjoy my flight of fancy!

Oh, right, there will be some... colorful... language throughout this plotline, so keep that in mind.

disclaimer: I don't own anything in the 'Naruto' series, just the stuff in this plot. Enjoy!

* * *

The air in the bar was choked with cigar smoke and the smell of alcohol. It was a lazy afternoon; pals shooting pool and playing poker to burn the day away. The dim light amplified the atmosphere of the inherent seediness of the room as the inhabitants discussed various matters between rounds.

The mood took a different turn as the doors opened to reveal the silhouette of a woman. The sight of a member of the opposite sex in such a place caught everyone's attention for a moment, and held onto it as the young woman strolled casually to the bar and took a seat.

"Afternoon, miss," greeted the bartender. "Red letter day to see a woman around here. What'll it be?"

The blue haired woman smiled. "Just a scotch on the rocks." The drink was poured and set down in front of her. She took a sip and pulled out a photograph.

"Don't think I've seen you before. You new to these parts?"

"Yeah, just passing through."

"What brings you by? Business?"

She twirled her drink. "Of sorts," she flicked the photo towards the man. "I'm actually looking for this guy. You seen him by any chance?"

The older man took a close look of the aging photo. His eyes widened as he recognized the deep blue eyes and springy blond hair of the subject. "Woah, missy. You after the bounty on this guy?"

"Yeah," she lied. She learned to never reveal the truth, as it took precious time to explain her situation. "So, any news on him?"

He shook his head. "No ma'am. Glad to say I haven't."

The man sitting next to her seemed to have a different opinion. "So lady, you after the bounty on Uzi?"

She turned her gaze towards the man inside her sunglasses. "Yeah, what of it?"

The drunk turned to a group occupying the table behind them. "Hey guys! This little lady says she's lookin' for Uzi! Looks like we got another bounty hunter in our den!"

The men set down their cards and stood to intimidate her. They began to babble useless drabble in an effort to antagonize her.

"So this little thing thinks she can take our prize?"

"Thinks she can take on Uzi himself, eh? Looks like we should learn 'er good…"

"Let's show her some 'hospitality' boys… be gentle though, wouldn't want to break a nail…"

The closest man took a swift boot to the family jewels. Another thing the woman learned was it was always best to use the cheapest shots to subdue an enemy, especially before a larger fight.

"Harry! You bitch!" One guy pulled a large knife out of his pocket and rushed her. "You're going down!"

The blue haired bounty hunter dodged the knife and slapped the man on the abdomen, causing him to double over. She moved on and elbowed the next man in the neck before he could react. The man from the bar tossed a knife at her only to see her catch it by the handle and throw it back, sticking it in the man's leg. She turned to meet the last two men standing and poked the nearest in the neck with a finger. As he fell to the ground, she ducked under the bottle the last man swung at her head. She shot up from her low position and struck the man on the chin, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. His head slammed onto the floor, knocking him out cold.

She pulled a wallet from the drunk and tossed it towards the barkeeper. "Sorry for the mess. This should cover the damage and the drink." She headed for the door.

"Hold it, you bitch!"

She turned to see 'Harry', the man whose boys met her boot, pointing a pistol at her.

"You're gonna pay for that!" He fired.

The woman dodged the bullets in a zigzag pattern. She could clearly see the disbelief in the man's eyes even through her sunglasses. She grabbed the gun and sent the man flying into the heavy bar table. She emptied the firearm and tossed it on the floor.

"You should know who you're dealing with before acting," she said coolly. She lowered her glasses to her nose so the man could see her eyes.

"Oh, shit…" the man was shocked. "You… you're… her! You're…"

Her pale lavender eyes shone brightly in the dim light. She smiled. "Yeah, the 'White Eyes of Death', Hinata Hyuuga." She turned on her heal and left the bar.

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She walked down the road of the downtrodden town, steel-toed boots clicking with each step against the sidewalk. Her thick beige trench coat fluttered in the breeze, revealing her pistol and several clips. She looked down to button her garment, as it was a cold day, and saw her frayed weapon pouch from Konoha.

"_How long has it been?_" She thought as she passed wanted posters on the street. Each and every one of them had snapshots of now infamous 'red eye' people; all deemed criminals for one reason or another. She continued down the row of extensive posters until her eyes caught one in particular: the red-eye Naruto 'Uzi' Uzumaki.

"_It's been a while, Naruto,_" she thought as she laid a gentle hand on the poster. "_I hope you're still alive…_"

(**flashback**)

Hinata was exhausted from her trek through the forest. The moon was her only source of illumination, and she dared not stop lest she be found or loose his trail. She continued onward despite her lack of breath.

She heard the news several hours ago. Naruto had been forcibly removed from the village by its citizens and several notable shinobi. Those responsible agreed that no one should be told of the deed, as the third Hokage would intervene immediately to return the young blond boy. Their plan had worked for a full day before the Hokage took notice of the lack of the village's prankster and his absent antics. Hinata only knew of the circumstances due to overhearing an ANBU relaying the order to find the boy to a jounin in the street.

She immediately raced home and packed everything she thought she might need, which didn't amount to much. Her mind was in a panic and her eyes were blurry from tears as she 'liberated' some weaponry from her family arsenal and stuffed it into her weapon pouch. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had snuck out the front gate (somehow) and was wandering aimlessly, searching for her source of inspiration.

That first night, she wondered why she was doing this. "_Surely the ANBU would bring him back safely,_" she thought. "_But then, they might be the same people who sent him away…_" She wracked her mind that night to find an answer to it all.

She had only known the boy for a short while, but he already meant the world to her. She took inspiration from his outlook on his miserable life, something she wished that she could do as well. She eventually cried herself to sleep and awoke a few hours later.

She picked herself up and continued her search for the young Uzumaki. There she was; Hinata Hyuuga, ten years old, setting out on her journey through life.

* * *

Write a review if you want. Should I continue this? I think it could almost work as a oneshot... 


	2. Hinata's a playa!

Damn! Didn't think this would garner as much attention as it did! Seriously, when I opened my mail this morning I thought I was hallucinating at the sheer amount of attention this got!

Since it was such a close match between keeping this a oneshot or a series (haha!), here's chapter 2 in all it's pathetically short glory.

disclaimer: I don't own the Narutoverse. But I own the real universe.

* * *

Hinata trudged through the slushy mess of an unkempt road after a healthy downpour. She was, per usual, in the seedy part of the next city she came across. She passed up the red light district this time in favor of bar hopping. She had been to a handful of bars so far, all of them ending in victorious fistfights.

She entered the next bar hoping to catch a break. She had known that her target was a 'red eye' for quite some time; many years in fact. All she needed now was information on how to find the elusive red-eyed criminals, as locating them would almost certainly lead to her prize.

She headed for an open table and took a seat to check out her surroundings. She was specifically searching for a drunken soldier, seeing as how this city was currently under lockdown from recent red-eye attacks. She scanned the room several times, harshly blowing off the pathetic attempts made by inebriated fools to get into her pants.

She found her target: a loud man dressed in a military uniform amidst several other drinking buddies and a few sidewalk sallies. "_They got nothin' on me,_" she thought as she stood to approach the group.

"Excuse me," she said while leaning forwards towards the soldier. "I couldn't help but notice you from my table." She laid on the charm as much as she could without gagging or laughing. "Would you care to join me for a drink?"

"Hey, honey!" shouted one of the man's drinking buddies, "Why don't you leave ole' Ralph alone and have a drink with me? He's got plenty of 'friends' at the moment, and I promise I'm better company."

She smiled at the loser. "I'm afraid not, I'm just a sucker for a man in uniform…"

'Ralph' stood up and swaggered a bit, feeling the effects of his night on the town. "I'll take you up on that offer, little missy." He brushed off the women clinging to him. "Why don't you girls 'entertain' my pals here? Show 'em a good time!"

The women obeyed and the soldier followed Hinata back to her table. She spent the next two hours liquoring the man up and getting him to spill the contents of his job.

"I'll bet you kept the city safe from those red-eyes," she cooed.

"Oh, yeah, sweetheart!" His speech was slurring. "I took outta bunch of 'em! Got 'em good!"

"Ooooh," she feigned interest. "I'll bet you took down their base, too."

The drunken man laughed loudly. "Nah, we couldn't find it! We did catch a few prisoners though!"

"Oh, you didn't execute those terrorists?"

"Nah, sweetie. First rule 'bout prisoners is ya don't kill 'em before you inter… intero… get the info outta 'em. We're keepin' 'em locked up."

"Did you put them in the town prison?"

He laughed again. "Nah, that ain't enough. We put 'em in a special cell down at the main headquarters. No way they're gettin' outta that one!" He took another swig of booze, not noticing a pill of some sort fizzing at the bottom. "So, little lady, you wanna get outta here and go somewhere nice?"

She giggled. "That's okay big guy." Her voice went from idiot bimbo to serious in no time flat. "I got all I need out of you. Nighty night."

The drunk's eyes fluttered as he tried to comprehend what she said and stay awake at the same time. He lost the battle and crashed to the table in unconscious rest.

The white-eyed bounty hunter took the money from his pocket and left most of it as payment for the fountain of drinks the man consumed. She stuffed the rest into her inside pocket and left the bar with an unusual feeling of accomplishment.

"_I'm one step closer to finding him! Yes!_" She silently celebrated.

(**flashback**)

When Hinata first set out to find her blond crush, she had no idea where to begin. She carefully made her way to several nearby towns to see if anyone saw the boy. The nearest towns to the village had no such sightings, which weighed her hopes down. But after traveling outwards, people began to recognize the description of Konoha's prankster.

With lifted spirits, she began to follow the trail of villages that he visited. When his trail went cold again, she doubled back to retrace his steps. What she found instead was a nightmare she never counted on hearing.

"Oh, yeah," a local woman recognized her description, "I did see a boy like that, but he got picked up by the Merchants."

"Who?"

"The Merchants. The gang that smuggles goods and deals with slaves."

She was horrified by the news. "What?"

"Yeah, they found him traveling alone, so they took him as part of their property. They'll probably sell him to some rich guy somewhere to the west. That's where they were headed."

Her mind and pulse started racing again. "Th- Thank you!" She stuttered before she ran off in a vain effort to find him quickly.

"Hey, wait!" The woman called out. She didn't catch the girl's attention, so she breathed a heavy sigh instead. "Be careful out there, little one. The world's a bigger and crueler place than you might think…"

* * *

If you still didn't get enough, go read my other fanfic. It's much longer and needs lovin' too. Tired. Sleep needed. Good night. 


	3. Quit staring at me!

Like I said, it doesn't take long to pump out chapters.

Dudes (and dudettes), I wrote the second chapter, went to sleep for an hour and a half, and had a crapload of responses when I woke up! Thanks for all the attention, guys. As a reward, here's the next.

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, sadly. I really could use the money

Oh, also: A little warning to youse guys out there, as there is some mild swearing here. Not for the kiddies, although I'm sure they'll read regardless of the warning anyway. Enjoy.

* * *

The sun rose only to be hidden behind the clouds of a muggy morning. Hinata awoke inside her tent outside of the city, hidden away in the packed foliage of the woodlands to avoid detection. This was how the morning began for her during the last fifteen years; always in hiding and always ready to be packed away.

She sat up feeling groggy this particular day. "_Must've drunk too much_," she thought as she stretched. Afterwards, she put on her clothes for the day, her average beige trench coat covering her stolen custom-made pistol and ever-vigilant weapon pouch. She shook her head at the memories the small bag brought to her mind and prepared for the day ahead.

The morning hours were to be spent checking out the base where the red-eyes were being held. She needed to gather intel on her location before making her strike, a mistake she would never make twice.

Once she was satisfied with the given information, she would spend the rest of the daylight hours preparing for the night. If all things went well, she would be ready to make her move that night. But things had to be perfect this time, no time for improvisation. The stakes were too high to risk it this time.

She put her hands together to form a seal learned long ago in a place far away. For the first time in months, she performed a transformation technique, disguising herself as the drunken soldier from the previous night.

She straddled her way towards the base and was happy to overhear a familiar man's voice chatting away with the soldier guarding the front gate.

"Yeah, man, Ralph ain't gonna be here today. He hooked up with some chick in a bar last night, but we found him later out like a light. Guy drank way too much. Turns out the bitch stole all his cash!"

The guard nodded. "Well, can't say I'm surprised. I've always told him if he keeps lookin' for strange women he'll hit up the wrong one eventually."

"Dude, not everyone's ready to settle down like you. You just got… huh?" The man turned towards Hinata. "Ralph?! What the hell're you doing here? Weren't you out cold last night?"

Hinata acted as if recovering from a mother of a hangover. She had them before, so she could pull off the deception convincingly. "Yeah, my head's still killing me, but I'm fine. Just give me some peace and quiet today and I outta be good."

"Well, alright," said the duped guard, "C'mon in… you're on watch today for the prisoners. Should be quiet enough."

She made her way towards the 'special' cells. Normally, she would have asked passersby where to find the place, but since there was so much talk in the air about the prisoners, she managed to find the place without the directions of others. On her way, she passed most of the camp, including the barracks, armory, weapon dump, and communications center. She made a mental note of _everything_ as she casually strolled by; another lesson she learned many years ago while on her harsh journey.

Upon finding the cell, she was surprised to find the security rather lax. "_Must be betting all the cards on the holding cell. Foolish._" There were only four guards who posed minor threats, but there was no shortage of mounted cameras. Those would be problematic.

She took her 'station' behind a turret emplacement. When she sat down, she pulled out a pen and a slip of paper and started to note the blind spots of the cameras. Sadly, they did a proficient job at placing them as there were few places to hide.

She was in the middle of drawing out a rough map of the place for later reference when she felt the gazes of the red-eyed prisoners. She looked up to find just that: all the captives were staring at her. She didn't count on this.

The west had no concept of ninjas. Any precision job was done with the use of soldiers, who had the abilities to take out targets or defend others with the required accuracy. The only position similar to that of a ninja was that of a 'specialist'. Specialists were fairly in tune with their system of chakra, or 'energy' as they called it, capable of performing incredible feats with minimal effort. She was certain they were similar to the shinobi in the east, but she wasn't around long enough to make a fair judgment of that assumption.

The red eyed people were notorious for being the best specialists in the western world. Their power was unparalleled and feared by all, which was why they were hunted and killed without just cause. They had a tendency to fight back, which only made it easier to them to be demonized in the eyes of their tormentors.

The captives were still staring at her. "What?!" She said out of feigned annoyance. The soldier she was impersonating would surely have such a temper.

A few of the red-eyes smiled. "Hi, _Ralph_," one of them said with sarcasm in his voice. "What's goin' on, _Ralph_?"

Hinata was on full alert. These prisoners knew something was up. "Shut up!" she yelled, hoping that she knew the drunk soldier well enough to imitate his temper.

Another red-eyes spoke. "C'mon _Ralph_, don't be like that. If we ever get outta here, we could take down this whole base…" the man winked to convey his signal.

She gulped. They were onto her, but they seemed ready to cooperate. "Shut up! When I'm off my shift, I'm comin' in there to beat you to a pulp!" She twitched her cheek to give a cheap imitation of a wink, hoping they'd get the message.

Small grins appeared on all their faces. They understood. Tonight was the night.

(**flashback**)

Hinata was confused by it all. What happened to Naruto, where he was, how she was going to find him, why she was even looking for him in the first place were all questions that raced through her mind.

She spent the last six months searching out the Merchants. When she headed west from her initial starting point, there was no word on the gang passing through. Seeing that as a dead end, she started south on a whim. Luckily for her, that whim was correct, as people remembered seeing the group passing through. She always seemed to miss them by weeks.

The search for the Merchants ended the seventh month when she stumbled upon a destroyed castle and the devastated remains of the city below where the group was taking shelter before moving on. When questioned, the survivors claimed the Merchants sold a young blond boy to the master of the castle who was known for his… unusual tastes. Later that night, the castle exploded in a fury of chakra which proceeded to rip the town apart in search of the Merchants. Once found, the gang was pulverized into nothingness. All the citizens claimed to see the young blond in the center of the chakra. According to them, he wrapped himself up in cloth to replace his lost clothing and continued south.

Hinata had been following him ever since. When she first heard of the destruction, she couldn't believe her ears. "_Naruto couldn't have done this… could he?_" Her fragile mind struggled to understand how this was possible.

She was lost in thought when she crossed paths with a group of men.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" One of them made a show of pointing her out to his buddies.

"Looks like someone got lost on the way home…" They started to circle her.

"We should show her the way back, fellas…" They started closing in on her.

Hinata was frightened. She was about to get her first lesson about how cruel life really was.

* * *

Ahahaha! Like that cliffhanger?! Don't worry, I ain't gonna leave you hangin! There'll be an actual ending to this little situation. In the meantime, see you guys later! 


	4. Putting on the boots to kick some ass

Dammit, chapters are gettin longer... I specifically wanted to avoid eating time like this. Oh, well, good news for you!

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I own your soul! Hahahahaha/lame

* * *

Hinata had left the compound several hours ago to prepare for the upcoming assault that night. "_Good thing I already planned it for tonight,_" she thought, seeing as how she recently learned the prisoners were to be transported the next morning to a more secure facility. 

She was currently executing the next phase in her simple plan: secure a means to enter the base, release the prisoners, and escape with them in tow. She needed a vehicle; but not just any old scrap of junk. She needed something with serious horsepower and a good bit of firepower.

During the last minutes of her 'shift', one of the red-eyes muttered something just audible enough for her to hear.

"_The Shade's lenses reflect the crimson light,_" she turned over the man's cryptic words in her mind. She had heard the name 'Shades' thrown around a few times since entering this country, so she was certain the captive was referring to that particular person.

Exactly who Shades was, though, was an entirely different ball park. From the rumors the white-eyed huntress had heard, this individual was some kind of black market arms dealer operating in this nation as well as some neighboring countries. The only description she had ever heard of the dealer was that he wore heavy-duty goggles during transactions, which were the only times he ever graced his clients with his presence. No one had ever seen his face or even knew if he was, in fact, a 'he' at all, as the dealer spoke with a heavy voice filter.

Surely the red-eyed prisoners knew something more about Shades if they mentioned him. She mulled over the possibilities in her head. "_If Shades were far away, then I'd never be able to rendezvous with him in time to bust them out. But then again, are they even aware of their transport tomorrow?_" Her mind worked over the evidence in her head. "_They most likely don't, but that wouldn't matter. They would want to escape as quickly as possible. Besides, I told them tonight would be the night. So that means…_" Her mind concluded when she reached her fourth destination.

She ducked under the gate of a decommissioned arms factory. The place had apparently been converted into an industrial compound that assembled engine and other mechanical devices for civilian use. She glided silently between the rows of workers as if she belonged there.

"Hold on there!" Called a voice. "Who are you and what are you doing here?!"

She turned to face a man in his forties, obviously a foreman of some sort.

"Good," she said with no emotion in her voice, "You saved me the trouble of looking for you."

"Answer the question, woman. You're trespassing, you know that?!"

"I have a good reason. I'm looking for someone here."

"You better have some kind of warrant, or I'm callin' the cops…"

She whipped out a blank slip of paper and flashed it at him. "I'm here on the authority of the local police. I'm with the undercover investigative branch. Now, will you cooperate or do I have to have you arrested before I go on my merry way?

The man stared at the empty paper, easily falling under the simple genjutsu. He nodded. "Alright, looks like you got the right to be here," he said grudgingly. "So who you lookin' for?"

"I only have a vague description of the person. Someone who wears goggles…"

The man burst out in laughter. "Look around you! At least half of the employees here wear goggles, and that's just this factory! It'd take a miracle to find anyone with that description!"

"There was a murder recently," she lied. "An eyewitness claimed the suspect wore industrial goggles. Our criminal psychology department studied the scene of the crime and determined the suspect might be slightly antisocial, avoiding regular human contact in favor of working alone. Is there anyone like that here?"

The manager thought for a moment. "Well… Nelly's kinda quiet. She works over in one of the smaller workspaces."

"Which one?"

"Number eight, right over there."

She rolled up the paper and stuffed it into her coat. "Thank you for your cooperation, sir."

She opened the door to the room and was pleased to see it was empty, save one person. "_Good,_" she thought, "_Now we can talk without any interruptions._"

"Excuse me," she raised her voice so she could be heard over the blowtorch. When the goggled figure didn't budge, she yelled louder. "Excuse me!!"

"Heard you the first time," replied a feminine voice. "Whaddya want?"

"You Nelly?"

"Yep."

"I need some private work done. I heard you were the best around here, so I figured you'd be the one to ask."

"Nope," she never broke her mirrored gaze from her work. "Go ask someone else, lady."

Hinata found it peculiar how the woman never looked at her. "Don't be like that. There's a lot riding on this offer. I'm willing to offer, oh, let's say… some red lenses for your goggles?" The woman froze for a split second before resuming work, just long enough for Hinata to notice that she hit a nerve.

"Why would I want some red lenses?"

"Because some friends of yours think it would look nice on you."

"Which friends?"

"Just some old pals in a bit of a bind. They hit a rough spot and need a helping hand at the moment."

The woman stopped working and turned towards the blue haired Hyuuga. She lifted her goggles up just high enough for the bounty hunter to note the red glow of her eyes.

"So, miss," Shades continued the encoded conversation with a smile, "What'cha need?"

**(flashback)**

Hinata ran for her life from her pursuers. Her jacket lay where it was torn off when she initially bolted, and her undershirt was partially shredded from one of the men's strong grip. She had managed to outrun them so far, but she was winded, and they still had the energy to yell.

"Get back here, kid!"

"You ain't gettin' away from us!"

"Come on back and maybe we'll let you live when we're done!"

Her mind literally could not venture into what they would do to her if she was caught. She knew full well the consequences, but it seemed like a distant fact rather than a nearby possibility.

She spotted a small cabin and ran towards it. She slammed into the door and was horrified to find it locked. She started banging as hard as she could against the heavy wooden door.

"Is someone home?! Let me in! Let me in! Please! They'll kill me!" Her mind and voice blurred uncontrollably as her eyes let loose a waterfall of tears upon seeing the men catch up. They slowed and formed a circle around her as they closed the final few yards.

"Hey, look fellas. She even found us some shelter. Ain't that nice?"

"Real considerate of her. We should return the favor…"

"Now you just relax and it'll all be over soon enough."

Hinata's mind went blank from the shock of it all. Here she was, only ten years old, and she was about to loose something she never thought she'd give to anyone except a certain someone…

She looked behind her when she saw the three men suddenly look at the door. She saw the open doorway and a man standing in it, pointing some kind of wood and metal tube at the would-be criminals.

The man cocked his eyebrow when he eyed the half naked girl staring blankly at him on his porch. He turned his attention back to the three men and said, "You're trespassing. Go away."

"Shit!" One of the men pulled out a hunting knife and charged the older man.

An incredible booming noise sounded above Hinata, jarring her back into reality. She saw the knife wielding man fall dead to the ground with a large hole in his chest. She looked back at the older man holding the metal tube and saw smoke wafting from the end. He pulled the piece of wood back then forwards and a hollow cylinder flew from a mechanical device attatched to the back of the tube.

"I said leave," the older man repeated.

The remaining men shook with fear in their eyes. In a flash, they turned tail and ran like there was no tomorrow.

The older man sighed lightly and set his weapon down against the door. He took another look at Hinata and called back into the cabin. "Yumiko! Get a meal going. We've got company." He offered his hand to the blue haired Hyuuga.

-------------------------

Hinata stayed with the older couple for a few days while she got over her shock. The couple seemed to appreciate her company, and lovingly nursed her back to health. Masato, the man who saved her life, and his wife Yumiko sat on the front porch enjoying the warm afternoon when Hinata exited the house to thank them before taking her leave.

"Um…" she fidgeted, "Thank you so much for taking care of me. I promise I'll pay you back some day!" She bowed.

The pair chuckled. "Hinata," Yumiko started in her warm voice, "You don't have to anything for us. We did what we had to do, and we enjoyed having you around."

"Yeah," Masato agreed. "It's been nice to have another body in the house. Just makes it all seem more normal, you know?"

Hinata flustered with her words. The older couple had a son years back that was killed by bandits when he was about her age. She knew the kind saviors still missed him, and that her presence reminded them of him.

"I- I thank you for your hospitality," she said shyly, "But now I have to go. I have something I…" she paused. "Something I need to do."

Masato stood up with a grunt. "Well, we won't stop you. One thing though before you go." He disappeared into the house for a minute. He emerged with a small handheld metal device that had a tube attached to a cylinder with a peculiar handle. He held out the machine in its leather binding towards her. "You should take this," he said.

Hinata accepted the mechanical device and was also handed a small box and a wad of paper currency. She looked quizzically at the metal object.

"Wha- what is this? I haven't seen this before."

"That's a thirty eight caliber revolver; it doesn't have the stopping power of the shotgun, but it'll slow someone down. That little lever there opens up the chamber, and you have about fifty rounds in that box. You need some money too. That should keep you going for a few days." He sat back down in his chair.

The look on her face showed that she was still confused. Yumiko giggled and said, "Masato, I don't think she quite understands what you just gave her."

"Oh! Well, the mountains to the east aren't so high this far south, so more stuff is imported from the west. I guess the mountains north of here keep anything from the west from getting that far."

Hinata understood and tried to refuse the weapon and other items, but the kindly couple just smiled at her. She believed that borrowing a whole set of clothes from their departed son was enough, but the pair insisted that she have them. She bowed and thanked them one last time before walking off while stuffing the new items in her bag.

Masato called out when she was still in earshot. "Hinata, there's a large trade city to the south of here. You might be able to find the person you're looking for there!"

"When did…" Hinata whispered under her breath as she turned her head back.

Yumiko yelled out as well. "We wish you luck, Hinata! May your dreams come true!"

Hinata smiled and waved at them as she finished her statement in her head. "_When did I tell them I was looking for someone?_"

* * *

Haha... psychic paper... 


	5. Now applying boot to ass!

Hmmm... why do I torture myself with two chapters a day? Who knows, but at least you faithful readers benefit from it.

disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. He belongs to some (possibly rich by now) japanese guy who got real lucky with his series' popularity.

Once again, some light language. Enjoy.

* * *

Night had settled in with a bitter coldness in the air. Snowflakes were beginning to fall in the absence of warmth, coating the ground in a cold fluffy sheet of white. Everything was quiet, as noise had the magical ability to disappear in the presence of snow.

The guards at the gates of the base talked lightly between themselves as they warmed their hands against a fire in a drum. Other than their sporadic chatter, they kept their voices low in the sleepy serenity of the night. The only person who was absolutely silent in this endeavor was the white-eyed Hyuuga lurking in the forest.

Hinata made all her rounds and set all her pawns in place. She looked towards the front gate through the enhanced vision of her Byakugan, which pierced through all objects and distances in her way. She nodded to herself and started the engine to her vehicle.

The monster of a car she received from Shades was a state-of-the-art technical. The engine was a solid V8 attached to the smaller frame of what she presumed was once a normal civilian car. Shades was kind enough to give her several RPGs and even loaned her an extremely rare weapon: an auto cannon. The fifty caliber automatic turret sat in the back of the modified trunk with four large drums of ammo, electronic targeting screen blinking in search of an unidentified heat signature.

When the engine roared to life, she flipped a switch to remotely activate the floodlights on the other side of the base. Within seconds she saw the guards scrambling to the source and tripping her traps; setting off mines and all other manner of lethal distractions.

She pushed the accelerator to the floorboards and the tires squealed as the technical burst forward. She could see the gates getting closer and closer with each second, guards who saw and heard her leaping out of the way of the large spikes welded to the grill.

The modified car crashed through the flimsy gate and continued forward with no hint that anything had happened. Hinata could hear the auto turret's electronic targeting system beep with each new target and the gun's barrels squeal to life before transforming into a spinning fireball of spewing metal.

She banked a hard right and sideswiped a soldier who was around the corner. Since the makeshift cell was surrounded by confined areas, she was forced to take the scenic route to reach her destination. She ducked her head to avoid returning fire, and reached for an RPG.

She lifted the rocket over her head and fired. The exploding projectile slammed into the base of the main communication tower, causing the massive thing to tilt and fall in slow motion. Her Byakugan saw the hard left she needed to take through the armor of the car, and she swerved to just barely make it.

She fired another rocket into the armory as she passed. She heard the satisfying explosion but no chain reaction. "_They really didn't keep them loaded, did they?_" She commented inwardly. Sadly, the ammo dump was out of the way of her intended path, so it would not suffer the same fate as of yet.

Hinata reached for another disposable rocket to blast through the barricade that surrounded the bunker of the cell. As she pulled the last corner, she saw something she had missed in the distorted view of her bloodline.

A tank. A tank aiming directly at her.

"_Oh shit!_"

She swerved to miss the tank and felt the modified vehicle go airborne for a moment as the shell exploded just under the rear tires. The car crashed to the ground and kept on going, but the frame was damaged something awful. No matter how well a technical was built, it was still a technical. It would never stand up to a moving hunk of metal specifically designed for warfare. The car slowed as everything pertaining to speed went critical.

Hinata leapt from the car and fired the rocket at the back of the tank. The explosive penetrated the fuel tanks in the rear and the machine went up in flames. "_Crap, now I'm on foot…_" she thought.

She pulled out her firearm and started emptying the clip into the scattered soldiers. The custom made gun had a massive kick to it, as it only fired thirteen millimeter rounds. The small clip was spent in seconds, and Hinata spun on her heel to requester a rifle from a fallen soldier. She brought the new firearm to bear and emptied seven rounds into a group of tightly packed troops piling out of the barracks before the empty clip self ejected.

"_Damn it! This thing is worthless!_" She took cover behind the dead tank and reloaded her pistol. She saw that her car had halted but was still running. Her quick mind devised an idea.

She dashed out from behind the burning husk, dodging bullets as they flew past her. She aimed her pistol and took out the few soldiers on one side of the car then took cover on that side. She opened the driver side door and, using that and the rest of the car as a shield, put the car in neutral and strained to push it forward towards the cell bunker.

After the eternity of a few minutes under intense fire, she managed to roll the thing to the thick metal doors of the compound. She pulled out another rocket and fired on the door, blowing it into several large chunks of steel. She gathered the last three rockets and bolted into the door.

Once inside, she was surprised by the lack of guards. "_Must've all been coming for me. How sweet._" She ran up to the special cell and started applying chakra to the unusual locks.

"Good to see you again," said the red-eye closest to her. "So our savior is none other than the White Eyes of Death herself, eh?" He laughed as she undid the final lock. "I'm honored at your presence!"

She slammed open the doors and the captives poured out. "Listen!" She called to get their attention. "My ride got blown to hell on the way here. We're stuck with no easy way out."

One of the familiar red-eyes responded with a smile. "Didn't I say we could take this place down if we ever got out? Don't worry about that little detail, missy! We got this covered. Form up!"

The red eyed terrorists started scouring the bunker for anything that could pass as a weapon. In the span of a minute, they were all 'armed' and ready to go.

One of the women of the group that was close to the entrance yelled, "We got company! Go time!"

The red-eye who greeted Hinata smiled. "Oh, this is gonna be fun!"

**(flashback)**

Hinata entered the large city the day after she departed from the older couple's home. While she had already seen cities grander than her village in her travels, this one captured her attention more so than the others.

Her interest was mainly caught by the small things. The vast majority of the buildings and various establishments were familiar enough, but small people sized steel fixtures and strange pieces of metal were affixed to everything. She wandered into the city market, seeing as how the majority of new things were conveniently mixed with the largest throngs of people and, as she knew, more possibilities of finding news about her beloved.

She stopped at one stall and gazed with glassed over eyes at the merchandise. The machinery laid out on the table appeared very similar to the firearm that Masato gave her. Her staring attracted the attention of the owner.

"Hey, girly, you gonna stand there all day and stare, or you gonna buy something?"

She was caught off guard by his curtness. "Oh! Um… actually, I'm looking for someone." She gave her description of Naruto to the loud man. "Have you seen him?"

He stroked his chin. "Hmm… matter of fact, I have seen someone who looks like that."

Her face brightened. "Really?! Do you know where he is or which way he went?"

The man smiled like a snake. "Yeah… but it's gonna cost ya. Nothing's free 'round here. So what's it worth to ya?"

Hinata offered some money to the man and he continually turned her down until she wound up tripling her original price. She handed the money over to the grinning stall owner.

"Yeah, he's right over… there." He pointed into the horizon.

She squinted to see and caught a glimpse of the back of head with blond spiky hair. She gasped and ran towards her target. "N-Naruto!"

The man was left at his stall flipping through some of the easiest money he ever made. "Sorry, girly," he said out loud, "But just because you name a price don't mean you're gonna get what you want. Well, least now you know..."

Hinata caught up with the figure further on down the crowded street. She pulled on his shirt and he turned around.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Shouted an irritated voice.

Hinata stopped. While the boy had similar traits to her crush, he was by no means Naruto.

"I- I'm sorry!" She bowed. "I thought you were someone else!" She ran off with tears forming in her eyes.

"Hmph," the youth shrugged it off. "Weird."

* * *

I may take a quick break from this fic (only a coupla' days, so relax) to write the next chapter for my other fic, which is hella longer and much less appreciated. So I'll see you blokes on the flip side! 


	6. Ew! The boot's sticky now!

Yo! Enjoy!

disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. I only own a computer and TV.

Oh, and once again: language warning!

* * *

Hinata activated her Byakugan again. Although she had become quite adept at using her bloodline for lengthy periods of time, she had her limits. Concentrating on more things at once only made the drain on her chakra that much worse. She was starting to feel tiredness creep upon her, but she shrugged it off. A battle was no place for a nap. 

"Incoming!" She yelled as her eyes saw a squadron prepare to storm the cell's bunker.

The red eyes complied by lining up against the wall of the door. As soon as the soldiers entered, they were taken down by sharp and blunt tools alike. In seconds, their bodies were stripped of all manner of armor and weaponry.

Hinata was impressed at their efficiency. "_They've really got this down…_"

The properly armed terrorists leapt out of the relative safety of the bunker and took the nearest cover. One of them hid behind the trashed technical and noticed the disabled auto cannon mounted on the back.

"Hey Dorian!" He called, "There's a dead auto cannon here! Want it?!"

'Dorian', armed with only a combat knife, yelled back, "Hell yes!"

"I'll cover you!" With that, the red-eyed man poked his head over the edge and began pumping rounds into whatever combatant he saw.

Meanwhile, Dorian rushed from his cover and straddled onto the back of the modified car and, after taking a second to make sure it worked, yanked the turret from its hinges. The fried electronics that made up the fragile targeting system fell off in pieces as the man ducked down and started pulling the ammo drums out of their placeholders. With the help of another, he managed to belt on three of the heavy drums.

Once he was prepped, he broke cover along with his comrades, albeit a bit more sluggishly than they did, and began firing from the hip. Soldiers caught in the open or hiding behind flimsier material went down in a hail of bullets.

Hinata followed the advancing group of red-eyes as they made their way between the congested makeshift buildings. She could see the remaining red-eyes pulling weapons off the fallen enemies and proceeding to kick as much ass as she did coming in.

"_So much for this,_" she thought as she deactivated her Byakugan. These former captives were obviously adept enough at combat to keep an eye out for her as well. "_After all, I did save them._"

She recognized the route they were taking. They were fighting their way through the shorter path for the front gate. After observing their trajectory, she spotted a soldier hiding poorly around a corner, waiting for the freed prisoners to pass so he could open fire without fear of return fire from multiple directions. She took aim with her massive pistol and put a bullet through his shoulder, causing him to tumble over in pain.

After twenty more minutes of intense fighting, she could clearly see the front gate from her cover. She knew the others saw it as well, seeing as they were beginning to access their stores of chakra and insert it into their… bullets?

"_How odd,_" Hinata thought, as she had never seen such a thing before. Of course, she had never seen a fight involving red-eyes either, so that might have made the difference.

The courtyard was beginning to clear of enemy soldiers. Either they were wising up to the fact that the escapees were not a force to be underestimated or there were simply not enough troops left in the camp to choke the area with them. Hinata activated her Byakugan to see which possibility was fact.

She could clearly see that both were true. Most of the troops were dead, and the vast majority was staying behind to hide in what was left of their burning base. However, Hinata did not have time to feel pleased at this. Her full attention was directed at what was directly outside the gates.

Heavily armed soldiers. "_No big deal._"

Armored vehicles. "_An annoyance. They don't have mounted guns._"

Light tanks similar to the one she had destroyed. "_A challenge._"

Two massive main battle tanks. She had never seen any before now. "_Shit!_"

The well-prepared escort force for the prisoners had arrived.

**(flashback)**

For the next two years, Hinata traveled roughly northwest. When she arrived in the market town those two years ago, she learned that Naruto had headed in that direction, so she continued her journey from there.

A year and a half ago, she had learned that the exiled blond had joined up (willingly this time) with a mercenary group jumping from hot zone to hot zone. After a few months of traveling, she began running into the remains of his handiwork.

The young Hyuuga was surprised and worried to find battlefields that had been blown to pieces and accredited by eyewitnesses to a young blond boy fitting Naruto's description. "_How could Naruto be doing this? He never showed power like this in the village…_"

After another year of failed attempts to gain access to battlegrounds, she joined up with a separate mercenary group. Currently, they were traveling northwest following the chain reaction of conflicts stemming from a rogue army from the south. Despite her age, she had gained the respect of her peers, as her Byakugan saved many of their lives several times over. She was treated kindly by the foreign soldiers.

After all that time of fighting and traveling, her group eventually reached a country in the middle of a civil war and was hired by the official government to fight on its side. They were sent to a separatist stronghold as the latest cannon fodder, and Hinata, per usual in her group's tactics, was sent to the front lines.

"What do you see, Hinata?" Asked one of the soldiers in her group.

Her Byakugan active, she looked onto the battlefield. "I see… trenches. The enemy has three layers of loose trenches dug on the other side."

"How many?" Asked another fighter.

She was silent for a moment as she counted. "About… one hundred men."

"Hmph. Piece of cake." He tapped his finger on his radio. "Alright boys, move in with flanking maneuver four in ten. Artillery, suppressing fire…" He began to rattle off the coordinates as Hinata fed them to him.

For the next ten minutes, artillery rained down on the enemy trenches with deadly accuracy. Hinata winced at every fallen enemy soldier even though she had become used to seeing people die these days. After the barrage, she counted eighteen survivors.

Her commander gave the order to move and all the hidden soldiers began to rush the vulnerable entrenchment. Hinata stayed behind, as her valuable sight wasn't worth risking on a battlefield.

She was horrified when her bloodline detected a massive increase of chakra on the enemy side. She was about to poke her head above her cover when a piece of dislodged metal flew by.

She began to panic. "_Wh- who could be doing this? What will they do to me if they find me? If only Naruto was here…_" She suddenly realized something.

She scanned the pattern of the damage currently being dealt and recognized it. She had seen the same kind of damage in places Naruto had passed through. She stood up in frenzied joy.

"Naruto! Are you…" She was knocked out cold by a scattered wave of bodies before she could finish.

* * *

This weekend's looking to be busy as hell, so I wouldn't expect too many updates. Maybe one or two as I'm taking extended breaks from projects and homework. Either way, catch ya'll later. 


	7. Midnight special shine a light on me

j0! Break in the workload! Good news for the faithful!

Some more news: since I don't always feel like writing in my spare time, I'm drawing a little something that goes with this story. I'll probably have it done by next week. I'll post a notice with the chapter that it comes out with. (Don't worry, I promise it won't be shitty. I'm actually a professional artist-in-training)

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do possess a bottle of Captain Morgan. (Sweet rum, take me away...)

* * *

"Hey white eyes," one of the escapees called, "See something outside the gates?"

She nodded. "Yes: Four APC's, six light tanks, two main battle tanks, and about fifty soldiers."

"What kinda soldiers?"

She looked at the red-eyed specialist in confusion. "There are differences?!"

"Well… yeah. What do they look like?"

She concentrated further. "Looks like they have bare metal plates for body armor."

"Dammit! Listen up!" The man addressed the others. "We've got iron men coming! They got armor too, six lights and two heavies!"

Hinata saw all the crimson eyes become alert at the news. Apparently this was a challenge for them. She saw them take cover closer to the gate and prepare for the new opponents.

Dorian came running from the direction of the ammo dump. "Hey guys!" He announced. "There's an ammo supply place back there with all kinds of good stuff!"

The Hyuuga spoke up. "It also has the rest of the camp taking cover there! It might be better to ambush them here while the gate constricts their path!"

The red-eyes who initially greeted her sat in thought for a moment. "How many are hiding at the supply dump?"

She counted. "Thirty-seven."

He nodded. "Alright," he addressed the rest of the escapees, "We're falling back to the ammo dump and going jungle once we restock! Move out!"

The red-eyes obeyed instantly. They moved with graceful finesse through the wreckage of the makeshift camp and the bodies of its deceased inhabitants back to the ammo bunker. They took up position around the building and waited for orders.

The leading terrorist charged through the front door with a trench shovel in hand. Hinata's Byakugan saw the western specialist dodging bullets and beheading a handful of soldiers to gain their attention as the rest of the group stormed the building. Within a minute, they controlled the ammo supply bunker.

As ordered, the crimson-eyed fighters loaded up with as much firepower as they could comfortably carry. An entire rack of grenades was emptied in seconds, and armor piercing rounds of all calibers disappeared into the magazines of their weapons. As quickly as they ransacked the room, the well armed group dispersed.

Hinata was comfortable at her location. She hid herself in a dark alley that turned into a dead end around a corner due to some unusual placement of the movable buildings. She could see the escort force moving as one instead of spreading out. "_Strength in numbers. Smart in theory, but clump up together too much…_" She aimed one of her remaining three rockets at the fuel tanks of a passing tank and fired. The tank went out with a bang, and she retreated around the dead-end corner.

A few soldiers were foolish enough to give chase in the confined alleyway. As they rounded the corner, they were met with a metal wall. "_Where did she go??_" was their singular and final thought.

Hinata undid the technique and the dim light around her ceased bending to avoid her. She struck the men in front of her in the chest, killing them instantly. The troops behind the fallen comrades raised their weapons to fire, only to have the barrels of their guns pushed aside and rusty kunai dug into their throats. The final man was quick enough to begin firing, but slow enough to not realize that the white-eyed bounty hunter was pushing his dead friends forward, using their body armor to deflect his bullets. The momentum of the thick metal armor crushed the man against the opposite wall.

The blue haired woman clambered up the walls of the alley to take potshots at the force below. When she made visual contact, she whipped out her remaining rockets and fired at two light tanks, taking them out in a blaze of glory. She ducked down on the roof and hoped that no one noticed her in the confusion.

Her Byakugan could see that she was the least of their problems. Dorian had pinned all the troops down with his 'portable' turret and thousands of fresh rounds. The soldiers tried to return fire on his position, but were taken out with precision shots through weak points in their armor by hidden red-eye crack shots.

She saw the 'leader' red-eyes (seeing as how he was always giving orders) zigzagging through enemy fire with incredible speed. With the combination of the blurriness of his movements and the fact that he was about six inches off the ground, it appeared that he was flying. He charged his shovel with massive amounts of chakra and jammed it into the large treads of the leading battle tank, stopping it in its tracks.

Red-eyes suddenly swarmed out of the shadows and charged the second battle tank as it rolled to a stop. They forced open the hatch and tossed a handful of grenades in before slamming it back and holding it down. Hinata saw the shrapnel-infested explosions go off inside, killing the crew. The tank's attackers opened it up again and moved in. They pushed aside the bodies and began operating the tank.

Hinata saw that the remaining enemy troops threw away all regard for their lives and dashed from their cover to retrieve the massive tank. The ones who weren't mowed down by Dorian were killed by a wave of grenades thrown from the shadows. She laid back on the roof and yawned, feeling slightly bored as well as sorry for the fallen troops.

"_May as well wait 'til their done. No use in fighting if I don't have to…_" She repeated another wise lesson she had learned in the course of her life.

----------------------------

After another half hour, the slaughter was over and the red-eyed prisoners had successfully escaped without a single casualty and plenty of extra firepower.

"You guys didn't need my help at all," Hinata said to the shovel wielding red-eye.

He laughed. "Almost. Those locks could only be undone from the outside."

She smiled weakly. "Now that you're out, I need some info."

"Shoot."

"I'm looking for Uzi."

The man's look became serious. "You're looking for Uzi?" He repeated with apprehension in his voice. "Are you after the reward, or is it something else?"

She shook her head. "No… no… I've been looking for him ever since her left home."

His face regained his good humor. "Oh! Is that it? Really?"

She nodded.

"So you know Uzi, eh? You got a crush on the guy or something?" He laughed.

She shook her head again. She felt her face warm up, but not nearly as much as it used to. "I've been looking for him for over fifteen years now. You're my closest lead right now."

He stopped laughing and looked at her with shock. "Fifteen… years?! That's… more than a crush. That's… dedication. Are you in love with the guy?"

She was silent for a moment before she responded. "I don't know anymore. I haven't seen him for so long, I just don't know what I'll do if I ever find him. So please, if you know where he is, could you tell me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Gimme a sec," He nodded his head and his crimson eyes burned brightly. After a few moments of concentration, he broke his silence. "He's avoiding contact right now. Don't know why. Lemme try a little harder." His eyes started burning brighter, and he started to squint.

"Crap! Are you okay?!" Hinata yelled when he started to shake and blood started dripping from his nose. His head continued to convulse more violently as blood started to ooze from the corners from his eyes. His eyes suddenly reverted back to their normal glow when his head stopped shaking and he began panting heavily, a light layer of sweat forming on his face.

He looked up and, between breaths, said, "It's real hard for normal red-eyes like me to connect with stronger ones like Uzi. Took a lot outta me, but I got somethin' for ya. He doesn't want to be found at the moment, but I did manage to catch a glimpse of where he is right now."

Hinata's eyes widened. "Where?"

"Head north to Roventia and look for the Raver. He's real popular there, so anyone will know where he is."

"Is Uzi with him?"

"Yeah. Oh, you'll need to repeat this phrase to the Raver's boys for conformation." He motioned for her to get close to him and whispered the line into her ear. "No one except us should know it, so say that and you'll be noticed as a friend."

"Thanks for the info." She turned to leave. "I never caught your name."

"Trench."

"Thanks for everything, Trench."

As she neared the exit, he called out to her. "White eyes of death! I only met Uzi once, but he's a good guy! Just tell him what you feel and he'll understand! Good luck!"

She looked back and smiled her thanks before continuing her journey.

----------------------------

Two figures cloaked in black stood atop a building and watched the Hyuuga leave the red-eye hideout.

"So what do we do?" The larger shadow with a large object strapped to its back asked the other.

The smaller phantom stayed silent for a moment before answering, "We follow her. She can get closer to our target than we can."

The larger figure nodded its head. "Still can't believe these guys can stand up to your interrogation."

Once again, silence ensued. "I feel the presence of thousands in their minds. The other entities support them so their minds will not break. They cannot be tormented into giving us anything."

"Still, to be able to withstand your mind games? That's something."

The shadow changed the subject. "We shall follow the Hyuuga until she finds our prey, then we pounce."

The larger figure caught its comrade's drift. "Yeah, yeah…"

**(flashback)**

Hinata was dug out from under the bodies of her mercenary team and taken back to the field hospital by the loyalist forces. When she awoke, she was saddened to discover that her entire group had been eradicated, save for her.

She left the city as quickly as she could gather her things. She passed by the battle where her friends' lives were ended to pay her last respects. While there, she saw the completed version of the familiar pattern of destruction.

"Naruto… that was you, wasn't it? How did you do this?" She broke out in tears with the combination of her friends' death, Naruto's freakish power, and the fact that he was here mere hours ago on the other side of the battlefield.

A wounded soldier passing through saw her crouching in the field and went over to her. He recognized her from the mercenaries that had been hired a few weeks ago. "_Must have been this group,_" he thought to himself.

"What's wrong, little girl?"

Hinata looked up at the soldier's undamaged eye with tears in her own, unable to voice her sorrow.

"Were you with the troops who died here today?"

She nodded.

"I see." He allowed silence to rule for a moment before continuing. "I know what it feels like to loose people like this. I've lost friends and family in battles just like this one. It's impossible to not feel sadness at their loss, but there is one thing you can do."

Hinata stopped sniffling for a moment so she could hear the veteran.

"Keep on living for their sake. They died so you didn't have to. Don't beat yourself up over this for the rest of your life, because that would dishonor them. Live life to the fullest and with no regrets." He stopped for a moment and chuckled. "Heh, that sounded pretty cheesy, eh? Doesn't make it any less true, though." He nodded as if satisfied and continued on.

The young girl choked off her tears as best as she could. Even though this man didn't understand her situation completely, his advice was still valid.

"Thank you, sir." She bowed and turned to leave. She still let the tears fall, but felt better now that they had run their course.

She saw the destruction's pattern moving westward. She had been searching for Naruto long enough to learn that he tended to move in the direction of his devastation.

After a week, she knew she was right, and her spirits were heightened now that she knew she was only a step behind the blond boy.

* * *

dun dun duuuuuuuuuuun...

Who could the men in black be?!!! Find out next chapter (a blatant lie)!!!

Hahaaahaa! Couldn't resist being st00pid in the afternotes. You'll find out who these new guys are in due time.


	8. Kung Fu Radio!

Another break in the workload! Yay... tomorrow's gonna be a bitch...

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I sure as hell wish I did.

note: more swearing. Not for the kiddies out there.

* * *

Hinata was about twenty miles from Roventia when a large storm hit. She took shelter in a small town's local pub in order to escape the harsh wind and cold rain. Upon entering the sleepy building, she noticed something rather peculiar about the place.

There were wanted posters plastered on the walls of the bar. This in and of itself was not entirely unusual, as she had seen it before, except for the fact that the posters were all glorified in some manner. In other words, the phrase 'long live the resistance' was painted across the top of the rows of posters.

The Hyuuga took a seat on a barstool and ordered a scotch on the rocks per usual, as she was slowly acquiring a taste for the putrid stuff. When the bartender returned with her drink, she inquired about the room's decoration.

"Hey barkeep, what's up with all the posters?"

"Oh, this?" He gave a satisfied smile. "This is a pro-resistance town."

The blue haired woman frowned. "How so?"

"Well," he said as he took in a breath to begin his explanation, "A long time ago, the leader of this country was a benevolent one. He got this country back on its feet after the war. Of course, he had plenty of political enemies in the capitol, but pretty much every citizen loved him."

"I see. So what happened?"

"He died." The elder man paused a moment for reflection. "Or rather, it appears on the surface that he died. He was actually killed by his brother so he could take leadership. The current leader was acquitted from the crime due to lack of evidence, but it's plain as day that he did it."

"If you know this, why not do something about it?"

He sighed. "We can't at the moment. You see, back when the last ruler was alive, he passed a tolerance act officially granting all people within the country equal rights. Mind you, this includes the red-eyes. When the current leader took control, he rescinded the act. While there are laws that protect the lives of citizens, he can legally press anyone to do his bidding."

She took a sip. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, all is not lost, little lady. The red-eyes were furious when the ruler rescinded the act and rebelled against him. That's why their outlaws today." He pointed to one of the walls of posters. "There's actually a lot of support for their actions, even if only in our minds. But this close to Roventia, the support for them is strong enough to put on display."

"Hmm…" She thought as she twirled her drink. "So what keeps the military from just coming in here and arresting everyone for conspiracy?"

The man laughed as he cleaned a glass. "You're quite bright, aren't you? We supply the rebels whenever we can and they provide… protection for us. It's a symbiotic relationship."

Hinata nodded her head in understanding. She took another sip and noticed the stereo system in the room starting to produce static noise. The easy music coming from the radio was suddenly blurred out and replaced by hard rock music.

"Whoa," exclaimed the barkeeper. "Looks like happy hour started early today boys! Drink up!" The room gave a loud cheer as free drinks were passed around, leaving the white-eyed bounty hunter mildly confused.

"What's going on?"

"Happy hour starts when Resistance Radio comes on. Just listen, you'll learn something."

The music dulled and a voice sounded loudly over the speakers. "Ladies and Gents, welcome to Resistance Radio, bringing you the real news on jacked channels since the days of the king! As always, this is the Voice himself on this lovely evening. Before we hit the local scene, I got a special surprise for all you loyal listeners tonight!" The room went silent to hear the special announcement. "We have here, in the flesh, Uzi himself! He's got a message for all of you and wishes to say a special word or three! Over to you Uzi!"

The inhabitants of the room and Hinata were on their toes. Unbeknownst to the Hyuuga, Uzi was one of a select few 'poster boys' for the resistance.

"How ya'll doin?!" A boisterous voice boomed over the radio. The rebel supporters in the room cheered and applauded at the sound of his voice while a tear welled up in Hinata's eye. This was the first time she had heard his voice in fifteen years, and, despite the deepness brought on by age, it hadn't changed one bit. "I got a special shout out to all you supporters out there! You know who you are! I'd come out there to thank each of you personally, but you already see me often enough on wanted posters!" The merry crowd laughed. "Seriously, though, give yourselves a hand. You guys all rock, and we'll make it all worthwhile someday. Now, I got a message for a certain someone out there…" Hinata's eyes widened. "Oh, yes! Recently a band of my comrades was imprisoned and then freed by a certain individual. I don't know who you are out there, but if you're hearing this, then you have my sincerest gratitude. Consider yourself a lifelong friend of the red-eyes! Now, I gotta go. Voice, I leave it to you!"

Hinata was too stunned to hear the continuing radio message. She slammed back her drink to bring her back to reality and pulled out a few coins to pay for it before leaving.

"Whoa, miss, what's the rush? It's still storming outside."

She regained enough of her composure to look back and smile. "Thanks for the drink barkeep. Good luck with everything." She exited the pub and trudged through the rain without a second thought towards her destination.

-------------------------------

Four figures clad in black raincoats traveled through the stormy weather as well. One of them spoke up as he headed for a log.

"Time for a break!" The relaxing man exclaimed only to be met with a foot to the face.

"Sheesh!" His attacker yelled. "That's all you ever do! You take so many breaks you may as well be a damn statue! And quit drinkin' all our water!"

He replied in an annoyed voice, "It's rainin'! There's plenty of water!" He turned to the side and quietly added, "Damn bitch, never stops talkin'…" His head greeted the foot again.

The irate female pounded on the man until one of the other figures intervened. "Stop it," he commanded. "We'll take a break for the time being. We can catch up easily enough."

"Hmph!" The woman grudgingly obeyed. "Don't know why you agree with that lazy bastard…" she muttered to herself.

The 'lazy bastard' spoke up to the group's leader. "Why are we looking for that Hyuuga girl anyway? I thought we were lookin' for…"

The largest man of the party cut him off. "If we find her, we'll find 'Uzi', and once we find him…"

He was interrupted by his leader. "We'll find Itachi, and I'll finally kill him."

**(flashback)**

Several years had passed since Hinata first began her quest to find Naruto. She had traveled to the far south and made her way to the farthest corners of the west in search of the blond runaway. She had made friends and enemies along her path, as well as lost people she came to care for. Life lessons had been learned both the easy way as well as the hard way. She had seen wondrous things and horrifying events alike. In short, she had grown up.

Hinata, a blossoming young woman of seventeen years of age, was about to discover something new about her target. She had recently passed into a gaggle of countries that vaguely reminded her of home in the east and encountered the phenomenon known as the red-eyes. Given her extensive journey this was merely par for the course, so she simply waived this fact aside as something interesting in her search for Naruto.

She was passing through a good sized town at the moment. She was short on money, seeing as how she had recently bought supplies after a night of gambling with crooked cheaters whom she wasn't allowed to beat into submission. She figured bringing in a bounty or two would get her enough to make it through the next week, so she made her way to the police station to check out the newest list of bounties.

She arrived at the bustling building and asked for the list. As she scanned the updated roster, she noticed that quite a large number of them consisted of red-eyes. "_How strange,_" she thought as she flipped through the pages.

Hinata stopped when she turned her last page, eyes wide and mind suddenly more alert than before.

On that list was the red-eyes Naruto 'Uzi' Uzumaki.

* * *

I'm... uncertain on how big my work load's going to be over the next week. All my teachers seem to be wanting to pile on the work before Thanksgiving, but I'm projecting here... time will tell. See you next chapter! 


	9. We like to partaaay!

Mmmm... tired. Need sleep. Long, boring day tomorrow. Enjoy this chapter.

disclaimer: Naruto's not mine, just this story. Oh, no swearing this time! (I think...)

* * *

As the storm waned, Hinata Hyuuga arrived at the outskirts of Roventia. She was soaked to the bone and felt as if she caught something, but it would all be worth it if she found Uzi there.

She stood in awe of the metal gates of the city. The entire wall around Roventia comprised of ill-fitting metal structures somehow fitted to broken concrete bases. The wall of metal looked as if it were built from a hodgepodge of items that were never meant to fit together yet were attached as if by magic. Even the gate gave her this impression, as it comprised of long smooth interconnecting metal shafts that lifted off the ground one at a time.

She walked through the strange gate and was met with an amazing sight. The city looked very much like its wall; a handful of familiar structures giving way to fitted metal and attached technology. Everything seemed to glow a faint but noticeable blue.

She immediately approached a passing civilian. "Excuse me," she caught his attention, "Where can I find the Raver?"

His eyes widened at hearing the familiar name. "Raver? Oh, he's over in the largest tower." He pointed to a series of blue metal skyscrapers that Hinata couldn't believe she missed.

"Thank you." She continued towards the towering hunks of glowing metal. She was amazed at the makeup of her surroundings. Every single building had structures that looked to be forcibly attached. She could even see that some of the smaller skyscrapers' sides were actually buildings that had been uprooted and inserted into the metal frames.

The one thing that caught her attention more than anything else, though, also happened to be her current destination: the central tower. It was easily twenty stories above the other behemoths of steel and was the only object that was completely comprised of the smooth blue metal. When she got closer, she could see intricate pieces of sharp angular metal curving around the superstructure partially concealed by large singular shafts of the illustrious alloy. Coupling the tower's appearance with the faint colors that seemed to radiate from the cast shadows made it a breathtaking sight.

She arrived at the presumed entrance just as it became too dark to see anything else. It was hard to miss, as the massive doorway was illuminated by uncountable thousands of bright neon lights and the ground thumped harder as she approached. She walked in amongst a group of youth who were strangely dressed.

The inside was every bit as impressive as the exterior, if not more. The deafening catchy beat made her wince before she became accustomed to it, and she activated her Byakugan underneath her sunglasses to tone down the unhealthy amount of flashing lights. She looked up and saw that the tower appeared hollow all the way to the top, the interior sides lined with strings of glowing neon lights and heavy duty audio equipment.

Her bloodline detected a large amount of chakra being generated at the center of the immense room, and focused her attention to the source. She saw odd clingy metal equipment that glowed upon an equally flashy platform. This was a source of the colorful chakra, but not the main one. The majority of energy was flowing from the man standing in the center of the strange equipment, dancing in the most theatrical manner while operating the machinery around him. She began to notice that the pattern of lights and music corresponded with certain movements he performed. She figured he was her current target.

She shoved her way through the crowd towards the central stage and was stopped just short by a man with mirrored glasses.

"Who are you?!" He yelled over the music.

"White Eyes of Death!!" She yelled back.

"Do you have business with the Raver?!"

"Yes!!"

"What kind?!"

The Hyuuga remembered the phrase that Trench had whispered in her ear. She leaned forward and yelled, "Red neon and blue lights make us dance all night!!"

The bouncer's brow went up in recognition. "Alright!! Come with me!!" He said while ushering her to somewhere away from the crowd.

He directed her down a flight of hidden stairs and into a messy room. It looked fairly normal as it lacked the metal fixtures that dominated the rest of the city. Personal items were strewn about as if a tornado hit the place.

"Have a seat," the man suggested, "It could be a while before the Raver's done."

"I don't have all day," she said with annoyance in her voice. "I need to talk to him _asap_ regarding a missing person."

The man shrugged and replied, "Okay… I'll let him know. Still might take a while, though…" He trailed off as he shut the door on his way out.

Hinata was left sitting in the relatively quiet room for ten minutes. The walls barely shook at all even though there was a city-sized party going on overhead. She observed the items around the room to pass the time and figured out that someone must live in this basement. She was alerted to a presence when she heard the door open and the noise level increase significantly.

"So you're the White Eyes of Death, huh?" said an unfamiliar voice. She turned to view its owner.

"Yes," she responded simply while eyeing the strange figure. His hair was dyed every color of the rainbow plus a few others and wore clothes to match. His eyes had strange metal pieces with luminous blue lenses concealing them. "You're the Raver, I presume?"

"Yep!" He said enthusiastically. "Welcome to my home, Miss White Eyes of Death!" He bowed deeply. He seemed to enjoy flashy theatrics.

"Please, call me Hinata. I was told by one of your comrades that Uzi was here. Is he?"

"Sorry, babe, you just missed him. He skips out right after every broadcast so he can avoid being triangulated by the military. They're gettin' pretty good at it, too."

Her eyes lowered to the floor in disappointment. "I see."

He flipped up one of his ocular lenses to reveal a blazing red eye and leaned forward to get a closer look at her. "Say, you aren't the one who busted out some of our pals down in Servo, are ya?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Oho! That explains why you knew he was here!" He seemed to pick up on her downtrodden mood. "You may have just missed him, but I do know where he's headed if you'd like to know."

The blue haired Hyuuga's spirits lifted slightly. "Yes, please."

"He's headed east towards Hive City to meet up with some other buds of ours."

"Hive City," she repeated the name and turned it over in her head until she recognized it. "Isn't that a red-eye city?"

"More or less. It mainly consists of the Agende Vhansin family."

"Wait," she remembered hearing the name. "You mean that family of cannibals?!"

"One and the same!" He seemed pleased that she heard of them.

The woman could only cock her head in confusion. "_Why would Naruto want to go there?_"

"You wanna take a break here before headin' out?"

"No… no, I'd better head out immediately."

"Well in that case, we got someone who's headed out there as soon as she's done wrappin' stuff up here. Wanna meet her?"

------------------------------

The Raver directed Hinata through a series of stairwells that went deeper and deeper beneath the surface. They eventually exited at the bottom into an extensive hangar-life room filled with assembly lines and studious workers.

"This," he waved his hands in a sweeping motion, "Is our weapons room. We're makin' the best of the best weapons right here. Wanna tour?"

"No thanks. I want to get going as soon as possible."

"Oooh," he pouted, "Spoilsport. Alright, follow me." He led her across the room and into another hangar brimming with vehicles. "Okay, she should be here somewhere…" He scanned the room.

Hinata also began looking around even though she didn't know who to look for. Her eyes settled on a red-eyed woman walking towards the pair. She spotted a pair of familiar eyewear dangling from her neck.

"Shades?!"

"Ah, White Eyes of Death! Didn't think I'd see you so soon!" She slapped Hinata on the shoulder. "How're things?"

The Raver observed the reunion in surprise. "You two met before?"

"Yeah, back in Servo. I gave her the equipment to bust out Trench and the gang."

"I see. Well," he turned towards Hinata, "You got all you need now. I gotta split. See ya later!" With that, he disappeared into the subterranean weapons factory.

"So…" the white-eyed bounty hunter wondered where to begin. "What's going on?"

"I'm movin' all these new weapons the Raver's building to our forces." She smiled in triumph. "It helps having the best smuggler in the west transporting sensitive stuff like this without getting caught!"

"Raver told me you were headed towards Hive City."

"Yeah. Our freaky friends there have some new drug. Supposed to make the user real frickin' tough! I'm headed out there as soon as _my boys finish packin' all this stuff_!" She yelled out the last part of her sentence and the red-eyes packing the new weaponry sped up. "You and I'll head out in a minute. My truck's already prepped to go." She turned to give orders to one of her underling smugglers and returned her attention to Hinata. "Now we're ready! Let's do this thing!"

As the Hyuuga climbed into the passenger seat, a thought crossed her mind. "Shades, is that your real name?"

"Nah," she said as she started up the engine.

"What is it then?"

She gave a sad smile. "Don't know. I got abandoned as a kid and grew up on the streets until I got taken in by the red-eyes."

"Oh… sorry…"

She laughed. "Don't worry about it! Best thing that ever happened to me!" The truck started to climb up a ramp towards the hidden exit on the surface. "You know, I never did catch your name."

"It's Hinata Hyuuga."

"Cool. Nice name." Silence passed between the two women as the truck neared the surface. "You know, it's kinda funny. I mean you bein' here right after saving Trench's hide and just after Uzi left. And now you're headed towards Hive City. You lookin' for Uzi by any chance?"

"Yeah."

"For real?" Shades seemed only slightly surprised. "Mind if I ask why?"

Hinata breathed in deeply. "He left our village in the far east when we were both ten years old. I left to find him as soon as I heard he was exiled."

"Ten years old?" Her voice carried sincere interest in it. "How long ago was that?"

"About fifteen years."

"What?!" The truck jerked as she got over the surprise of the white-eyed woman's answer. "That long?! Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"I see," Shades regained her composure. "What are you gonna do if you find him?"

Hinata hesitated. "I… I don't know." She had never seriously contemplated the subject all these years. It would cross her mind from time to time, to be sure, but she would never reach a determined answer. A part of her mind had accepted long ago that she may never see the blond again, and that seemed to put a permanent damper on her personality. She knew what she felt in her younger years was akin to love, and that she actually did love him all those years ago, but now that boundary was no longer clear to her. Her mood saddened while she thought about it.

"You know," Shades started talking with a previously absent seriousness in her voice. "Uzi's a real nice guy. All the red-eyes know him, and he's pretty popular with the loyalist population. Needless to say, there probably isn't a woman alive who could resist his charm, but he never goes beyond being friendly. I met him once, and I like the guy. I really wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with him, but I know it ain't gonna happen. It's like he's carrying a burden that he won't let anyone else share." She let a moment of silence pass between her words. "Who knows, maybe an old friend could be what he really needs."

Hinata smiled. Shades was a tough woman, so compassion to her was obviously a difficult emotion to portray, but she was trying. "Thanks, Shades. I needed that."

"No sweat," she replied with her tomboyish tone returning. "So, care for some porn?"

"What?!"

**(flashback)**

Hinata's search for Naruto had taken a new turn ever since she discovered he joined the ranks of the red-eyes. Not only was it easier to gather confirmed sightings of him, but the frequency of sightings easily doubled. She was hearing rumors about him at least twice a week.

Another aspect that changed with him that she noticed was his power. She began to see more scenes of destruction with Naruto as their cause, and each incident differed from the last.

To be more specific, she saw a change in the destructive force the blond was capable of producing. To make a similar comparison, it was like an explosion versus a blast furnace. Before turning into a red-eyes, Naruto's power was like that of an explosion; sudden, chaotic, and unfocused. Afterwards, though, it was becoming more and more like a blast furnace; compressed and controlled. Compression of such power only made it more intense, but his control of it was slowly becoming more precise, leaving fine lines of destruction.

The Hyuuga girl honestly didn't understand the relationship between Naruto's powers with his becoming a red-eyes. "_There has to be a connection,_" she thought, "_But what could it possibly be? I still don't even know where he got that power in the first place!_" She was frustrated by the situation at hand, but she never let it get in the way of her search.

She was leaving a bank he had recently robbed with several other red-eyed bandits. She had observed the familiar pattern of evolving destruction on the annihilated vault door, and the security team was more than happy to give her a copy of a picture of Naruto in action with his trademark Uzi in hand.

The girl stared at the recent picture as she strolled through the town with her newest lead on her red-eyed target. She felt happy that he was healthy and not too far ahead of her as well as sadness at his absence and outlaw behavior. "_Well, let's just hope I find him before the authorities do,_" she reassured herself.

* * *

Once again, unsure of this coming week's workload. I might be able to knock out a couple of chapters, but keep your expectations low (always a good thing by the way...). See ya on the flip side! 


	10. I am out of flashbacks!

Well, if you paid attention to the title, you should guess the future events fairly easily. Oh well, it was bound to happen sometime.

disclaimer: Naruto's not mine, but my dinner is! Also: 'colorful' language warning!

* * *

The traveling duo had stopped in a backwoods town on the way to Hive City on business. Shades, despite fully understanding Hinata's situation, had her duty as a professional smuggler to perform her outlawed craft.

As several red-eyed men unloaded the unmarked crates from the truck, Shades and Hinata took a break from the open road in the run-down hideout. Their light conversation was interrupted by a quirky red-eyed girl.

"Shades," the young red-eye said upon seeing the goggled woman, "There's an automated message for you from Roventia."

"Well let's hear it!" She and the Hyuuga left their seats and headed towards the communications hut.

"Here it is," the girl said as she flipped several switches and turned a knob.

"Hey Shades!" The radio crackled to life with the friendly voice of the Raver. "How's the road? Great, I'm sure. Since you're always in a hurry, I'll just get to the point for once. After you guys left, some dude came in lookin' for the White Eyes of Death. He had three other guys in his company, one of 'em was huge, another one carried this big-ass sword, and the other one was this cute lookin' chicky with a serious attitude. When I didn't tell the dude anything, his eyes turned into this weird pattern and the asshole started to bust up my club! You believe that, he tried to take me down!!" The static voice laughed. "He even tried usin' electricity on me! 'S like he's never heard of me before!! Well, I ripped 'im a good one and he went on his way with his merry band. I'm pretty sure he knows where you're goin' though, so just watch your back. Catch ya later!"

The girl turned the knob with an audible 'click'. "That's it," she said.

"Hmmm…" Shades thought the message over without any serious tone. "Friends of yours, Hinata?"

"No," she shook her head. "I didn't know anyone knew I was this far west. I've got nothing." She shrugged.

"Works for me." The pair headed out of the hut and saw the empty truck. "Well, looks like we're ready to hit it again. Shall we?"

Hinata smiled at her newfound friend. "Sure."

----------------------------

Two figures donned in black cloaks with red cloud patterns darted through the trees in silent pursuit of their target.

"Hey, Itachi," Kisame attempted to strike up a conversation with his quiet partner. "You really sure following that Hyuuga girl around is really the best idea?"

Itachi said nothing in reply.

"I mean, she's always a step behind the target, you know? Why don't we try to find him on our own once we get the newest lead?"

The Uchiha stayed silent for a moment before responding. "The Hyuuga girl will eventually find Naruto Uzumaki despite the circumstances. If we act on her information ahead of her and miss the target, we could possibly loose sight of the girl as well, which would leave us at the starting point."

Kisame seemed satisfied enough at this answer even though he didn't like it. He despised the fact that they were relying on some lost little girl to do their job.

"Oh, yeah," the fishlike human tried to change topics. "I've been hearing that your little brother's looking for you. He's even got his own squad and all. What do you plan to do about him?"

Itachi gave his obligatory silence before his reply. "Sasuke is still too weak. He uses hatred to drive his training, but it also blinds his path as well. He can never hope to defeat me on his own."

"What if he had help?"

More silence. "Possibly, but where could he possibly find anyone powerful enough who would risk their life for a cause not their own?"

"Good point," he nodded. "How're we going to take down the target?"

"If Uzumaki proves to be too formidable an opponent with his allies, we shall wait until he is separated from them to strike."

"Sounds like a plan."

----------------------------

The vehicle transporting the white-eyed Hyuuga and her lewd and crude smuggler friend pulled up to a makeshift gate embedded in a weather beaten wall. Shades stuck her head out and signaled to a guard who was barely noticeable through the singular eye slot. When the cover of the slot slammed shut, the gates opened loudly as the rusted metal gears ground together.

"Welcome to Hive City," Shades announced. "Home of the red-eyes and Agende Vhansin family." She maneuvered the truck through a series of crowded streets and alleys and finally stopped at a well worn compound that reminded Hinata of the Hyuuga mansion, only taller and messier.

The car pulled to a stop and its passengers exited. The women were instantly greeted by a younger man, presumably an 'Agende Vhansin'. Hinata now knew why they were so feared.

The man had natural blazing red hair with mildly pointed teeth adorning his smile. His flesh was scarred with tattoos that were stylishly similar to his frightening eyes, which alone could strike fear in any lesser man. His cornea and pupils were outlined in neon yellow, and concave lines of the same color rippled outward from the center. With this bizarre pattern of bright yellow against the burning redness of his eyes, he was a sight to behold.

"Shades," the freakish red-eye smiled and held out his tattooed hand, "Good to meet you finally." His creepy gaze shifted towards Hinata when Shades accepted his hand, smile still holding. "Who's this?"

"This is the White Eyes of Death!" Shades announced enthusiastically.

"Please, just call me Hinata," the Hyuuga added.

"I see," said the youth, "I am Sanshatav Agende Vhansin. Pleasure to meet you, White Eyes of Death Hinata."

"Sanshatav," Shades spoke up, "I'm here for that substance you guys synthesized. You got that first shipment ready?"

"You bet!"

"Excuse me," Hinata interrupted before the two red-eyes got ahead of her. "I'm looking for someone who's supposed to be here."

"Who's that?"

"Uzi."

The Agende Vhansin cocked his head as he thought. "Oh!" He suddenly said with realization. "Yeah…" he trailed off for a moment.

Hinata took his silence to mean that she had just missed him, "_Again!! Damnit!!_" She jumped the gun on her next question. "Do you know where he's headed next?"

He looked at her with confusion. "No… but I know where he is right now. That help?"

"Yeah."

Sanshatav lifted his arm and pointed to his right. "He's over in the old auditorium right now."

Hinata froze. She didn't actually expect to suddenly find Naruto so quickly upon arrival, much less as easily as this. Her white eyes were wide for several seconds before her informant noticed.

"You wanna go see him now?"

"Where's the auditorium?!" She asked impatiently. This was the closest she had ever gotten, and she was determined to not loose him again.

"Just follow… Gack!" The red-eyed cannibal cried out in surprise when Hinata grabbed him by the sleeve and took off in the direction he was pointing.

"Where do I turn?!"

"Uhh… here!"

Shades watched her newest buddy speed off with her strange ally. "_Go do your thing, Hinata. Good luck!_"

----------------------------

After a few minutes of intense running, Hinata finally reached the front door of the once grand auditorium. She panted hard but could no longer register her physical state at this point. She released Sanshatav, pushed open the door, and entered the large room.

It was mostly dark and was in desperate need of repair. She could see small droves of red-eyes congregating in the spaces between the rows at intermittent points. The only decent source of lighting came from a large dull floodlight that partially illuminated the aging stage.

"Naruto!" She called out. She could hear the chatter die down a bit before she called out again.

"Hey, Uzi!" Sanshatav yelled out from behind her, "You got a visitor! Where are you?!"

"Uzi's over here!" A red-eyed man by one of the small tents close to the stage waved to them.

Hinata was moving before she could even think. She wasn't even sure what she was going to do when she saw him, but she knew she at least had to complete the goal that had consumed most of her life. She reached the tent in seconds.

The cover of the opening parted and she came face to face with Naruto 'Uzi' Uzumaki. It had been fifteen years since she first set out to find her first crush, and now she had finally found him.

"Yo!" He casually greeted. "Who're you?"

* * *

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!

Like I said, bound to happen eventually. Just a little side note: This fic is far from over. I've got plenty of plans left for it!


	11. Does this count as fluff?

Yo! 'Sup? I was rather surprised at the reception of the last chapter. I knew it was something everyone here was looking forward to, but never this much. So far, it has the most reviews of them all! Still not nearly as many like some big name fanfic writers (Lifethane, thinkin' of you...), but I like to delude myself into believing that more people read than actually review...

Anyways, here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

disclaimer (as always): Once again, Naruto does not belong to me. Damn!

Language warning! (Now go and read it anyway...)

* * *

Hinata locked up. Despite the fact that she had long grown up from being a shy little girl, she could feel that old side of her resurfacing.

"Naruto? Is that really you?"

"Yeah… though not many people know me by that name. So who are… huh?!" He was surprised when the odd white-eyed woman suddenly hugged him out of the blue. He was about to push her away least she be another assassin when he felt something cold on his bare chest. "_Tears?_" He thought. "_Who the hell is she?_"

The Hyuuga realized what she was doing and pulled herself back. It wasn't so much that she missed him rather than being in shock that she had actually found him. At least, that's what she thought.

"Uh, come on in," Naruto said as he lifted the flap to his tent.

Hinata entered and took a seat in one of the old felt chairs, Uzi taking the one across from her. She squinted to get a better look at the blond man through the dim light, clearly noticing that he had changed his appearance over the years. In place of the gaudy orange jumpsuit was a faded olive green army recruit jacket with missing sleeves and left unbuttoned, revealing the finely toned musculature of his torso and abdomen. His pants had a reddish hue to them and were messily tucked into his well worn leather boots. His right arm was bandaged from the shoulder down and his left hand had red tattoos that resembled gashes on the inside joints of his fingers and palm. He also had what looked to be a metal ring implanted into his left wrist. Most notable of all, though, was the stark contrast in colors in his eyes and hair, his long spiky hair having bright red streaks and his blue irises shining amongst the burning crimson in his eyes.

"So, once again, who are you exactly?"

She wiped the drying tears from her face and composed herself. "I am the White Eyes of Death…"

"Holy crap!" He interrupted with an excited smile. "You're that person that got Trench and his gang out of that prison! I didn't think I'd get to meet you!" He held out his hand. When Hinata hesitated with newfound tears welling up in her eyes, he leaned forward to get a better look at her eyes. "You know, you look kinda familiar. We met before?"

She nodded. "We have, even though you didn't notice me at the time."

He sat still while staring at her pearly white eyes. "You do look familiar…" he said to the wind as he thought out loud. "Maybe someone I met on the way here? No… farther east, maybe?"

Hinata didn't feel like waiting for him to backtrack through his entire life. "My name is Hinata. Hinata Hyuuga."

Naruto paused as the name rang a bell. He was stiff as a statue as he mulled the unique name in his head for a few seconds. "Wait… Hyuuga… Hyuuga…" he repeated the name as he recalled memories of his old home. "Hyuuga! That's the name of a family in… uh…" He paused again to remember the name. "Konoha! Wait, you're from Konoha?!"

Hinata smiled. "_At least he hasn't forgotten everything,_" she thought.

His mood suddenly turned sinister. He stood up and brushed aside his jacket, revealing his trademark Uzi. "You're not here to take me back, are you?" He inquired with apprehension in his voice.

"What? No, no!" Hinata waved her hands in a panic. "I..." She took a deep breath as she organized her thoughts. "When I heard that you left the village, I was worried. So I packed whatever I could and left to find you."

His eyes widened as he relaxed. "But… That was over…" He did the math in his head. Time had obviously gone by unmarked in his mind. "Fifteen years ago."

Hinata nodded her head. "Yeah, about fifteen years."

"Wait, you've been looking for me for fifteen years?"

She nodded.

"Why?" He sat back in his chair and asked with sincerity.

She bit her lip. "At first, it was because I… it was because I loved you. Back then, I looked up to you in such a way that it couldn't have been anything short of love." She saw his red eyes widen slightly as he listened intently. "But now, I'm not so sure. I've gone for so long without seeing you and lived on my own strength that I don't know why I've continued until this point." She swore under her breath as she felt more tears welling up. "So, that's why."

Naruto nodded. "I see. So you've devoted most of your life for lookin' for me even when you've lost sight of why you were doing it in the first place." He stood up and walked over to her. "Well, I can't say that I know what it was like because our reasons were different," he put his bandaged hand on her shoulder. "But thanks. Good to know that someone out there's willing to go that far."

The pair was silent for a moment as they let each other's words sink in. Needless to say, it was awkward as hell.

"So," Naruto started in an attempt to lighten the mood, "You hungry?"

Hinata smiled as she was marginally content with her new situation. "Yeah, I'm starving."

---------------------------------

The pair of easterners had been eating at their bench for quite some time while sharing various tales of their separate journeys.

Naruto gave a small laugh. "You know, it's kinda like looking into a mirror. Most of our stories are kinda similar, you know?"

Hinata giggled. "It is kind of weird. I guess that's what we get for leaving so young, though." She remembered something that she always wondered about since seeing the first demolished city that Naruto passed through. "Naruto," The blond red-eyes looked up. "I've been wondering about this for a while. When I was following your lead, I kept running across all these scenes of destruction. At first I thought it was coincidence, but then I kept seeing it wherever you were. How did you do that?"

Uzi's eyes shifted their gaze downwards as he thought about his response. He lifted his head with resolve and looked into her eyes. "Listen, Hinata, about that… it's the reason I got kicked out of Konoha in the first place."

The Hyuuga bounty hunter cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, uh, you see… remember that old story we got told as kids about the nine tailed fox?"

"Yeah."

"Right. Good," He was obviously uncomfortable about the topic. "Well… the fox wasn't actually killed."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he got sealed instead. The only thing the fourth Hokage had to seal the fox into was a newborn…"

Hinata's eyes went wide as she made the connection. "And that was…?"

"Yeah, that was me." He looked at the white-eyed woman with sadness in his eyes. "The villagers always thought I _was_ the fox rather than its container. When I first got picked up by a group of 'merchants', they traded me to some rich pervert asshole in a big castle. That night, he tried to…" He trailed off while thinking of how to say his next words. "Do something unpleasant."

Hinata gasped lightly at his implication.

"I was scared and angry, and somehow that tapped into the fox's energy and that allowed me to blow that castle and part of the town to hell. Since that point on, I've slowly figured out how to access that damn fox's energy." His gaze turned dead. "Well, that's all there is. What do you think of it?"

Hinata was shocked to hear the blonde's secret. "_Was this his burden all these years?_" She smiled at her captured target. "You were forced down a path that leads to unnecessary suffering. It's not your fault…"

"No, no…" He interrupted. "Ever since I started to figure out how to manipulate this power, I've used it more and more! I've caused the deaths of many innocent people!"

"So have I!" She yelled to garner his attention. When he looked at her with surprise, she continued. "Whether directly or indirectly, I've caused the deaths of plenty of people who didn't deserve it. It's not something I'm proud of, but an old soldier once told me to keep on living for their sake, even if I was to blame. That's all we can do, isn't it?"

Naruto was surprised by her words of wisdom. Being a red-eye connected his mind to his comrades, so pain and suffering was commonplace to him. But here was this woman who understood what he felt all on her own. He smiled and let out a light laugh. "You make a good point, Hinata. You know…"

"Hinata! Uzi!" A familiar goggled face appeared by their side. "I see you two hit it off fairly well."

Hinata laughed. "Yeah, we did."

"Shades!" Naruto stood up and shook her hand. "Long time no see! You here on business?"

"Yeah, I just loaded up on that concoction that the freak family made. I'm about to head out. Just wanted to say 'bye' to you two."

"Oh, c'mon! Have a seat! We'll all have a drink!"

She held up her hand to refuse. "Nope! Duty calls. Uzi, good seeing you again." She turned to her white-eyed friend and cracked a mischievous smile. "Hinata, I'll see you around!"

"See you, Shades. And thanks for bringing me up here!"

"No prob!" She waved her hand as she walked away. She suddenly spun on her heel and faced them while walking backwards. "Oh, yeah! Name one of your kids after me, will ya?!"

"What?!" The pair simultaneously yelled back. The red-eyed smuggler kept on walking without skipping a beat.

Hinata let out a sigh. "She's… really something…"

"You're tellin' me. A real tomboy…" He sighed and looked at her with a glint of hope. "Hey, are you really cool knowing that I got that damn fox locked up inside of me?"

She smiled at him. "Yes. You've always been you. I'm absolutely fine with it."

"_She… took that really well,_" he thought. "_I don't even know how my other friends would react…_"

The Hyuuga runaway decided to inquire about the evolution of Naruto's powers. "When I saw that you became a red-eyes, I started noticing your power changing. How did that happen?"

His eyes lit up. "Oh! Well… let's see… these red-eyes actually work as a weird form of telepathy. In other words, we can communicate at a basic level using only our minds. That helps us learn things from each other because we aren't just learning them; we understand them at the same time. Does that make any sense?"

"Uh… kind of. Keep going."

"It's hard to describe to someone without red eyes, but that's cool. Basically, when I became a red-eye, I learned from all our specialists how to refine and manipulate energy more effectively. I started applying what I learned from the veterans to my own techniques. In fact," he lifted his left hand and flashed his tattoos, "This is one of them."

Hinata looked curiously at his palm. "How does that work?"

"It'll do a lot of things, really, but it's good for anything involving lots of energy. I send energy through my arm into these tattoos and they channel it into pure force. It took me a real long time to get it down, but I can pull off some insane stuff with it!"

"I see," she lied. The description was far too vague to make any sense without seeing the technique in action. "What happened to your arm?"

"This?" He lifted up his bandaged limb. "Oh, the Agende Vhansin family just inked another energy tattoo into me. It needs to completely heal before I can use it, or I'll mess it up real bad."

"Can I see it?"

He gave her a look akin to embarrassment. "Sorry Hinata, but I was told not to take off the bandage for at least another couple of days. Doc's orders, you know?"

She pouted playfully. "What about your hair? Don't tell me you dyed it. I liked it when it was only blond."

He scratched his head. "The stripes started developing when I started redirecting the fox's energy into myself. Best I can guess is that it's a side effect."

The Hyuuga bounty hunter was about to bring up another question when an air raid siren sounded. She instinctively stood up and saw Naruto do the same from the corner of her eye.

"What's that?" She asked.

"We've got company." He said as he turned towards her. He let loose a large grin and said, "Let's ride!"

She returned the grin with the added excitement of finally being by his side. "Got it!"

* * *

The only phrase I could think of when trying to add Shades's little comment was: Oh behave, baby... (shameless Austin Powers fan...)

This weekend is looking to be absolute HELL! My teachers really are trying to get us to finish projects before Thanksgiving break (we still have Mon. and Tues. classes. //cry). So, as usual, lower those expectations! Lower 'em good! New chapters may not appear for a few days...

Oh, and post some reviews and lemme know how the not-so-suspenseful-anymore storyline is (there's still plenty of action left, this I promise!).


	12. Kickin' more ass again

Phew! Longest chapter yet! Enjoy!

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything to do with him outside of this fic. But the rest is hella mine

(again) Colorful Language Warning!!

* * *

**(earlier)**

"Hey, who're you?!" Yelled out the guard of the front gate of Hive City.

"This is Lieutenant Sovan of the fifth regiment!" Responded a voice. "We have reason to believe you are sheltering a suspected criminal. We are here to apprehend her."

"Oh? Hey Jhavil!" The red-eyed guard called out to a nearby Agende Vhansin. "We got some military boys wantin' to 'apprehend' someone here!"

Jhavil leapt on top of the gate and looked down on the gathering of soldiers. "You guys know you have no authority here! State your business!"

"You heard me the first time!"

"Really?!" The freakish red-eye shot back in a demeaning manner. "According to treaty number zero one five dash thirteen, Hive City is solely under the jurisdiction of the Agende Vhansin family and all laws therein shall be acknowledged and obeyed by all current inhabitants under said jurisdiction. Sound familiar?!"

"Our reports indicate that the suspect is not a red-eyes, so under amendment seventeen of treaty zero one five dash thirteen, any non-red-eye criminal is subject to national law prior to the laws of Hive City. If you will not comply, we have the authority to take the suspect by force."

The Agende Vhansin grinned maniacally. "Any new laws or amendments to current laws decreed after the death of the king are not acknowledged here in Hive City. That is our law." He slurped his tongue in the air in an ancient insult from his family's culture. "So tough shit! Go away, you're not wanted here!"

"Very well," Sovan muttered as he touched the 'send' button on his radio. "All teams, move in!" As soon as the words left his mouth, a bullet left a new gaping hole in his head.

----------------------------

Hinata moved through Hive City with newfound strength in each step as she matched Naruto's pace. "_Strange,_" she thought. "_I'm about to fight again, but I don't feel any anxiety at all. I'm either used to it by now or…_" she glanced at the blond red-eye easterner. "_Maybe those old feelings aren't quite dead yet…_"

Uzi suddenly stopped and slammed into a concrete pallet that conveniently lied across the street, blocking a strafing of machine gun fire. "Hinata! The Hyuuga have a special power, right?!"

She nodded as she took cover across the small street. "Yeah!"

"What is it?!"

"It's the Byakugan!" She activated her bloodline. "It gives us a three-sixty degree field of vision as well as the ability to see through multiple layers of solid objects!"

Naruto looked at the veins in her eyes with shock until another burst of fire brought him back to reality. "That's awesome! What do you see out there?!"

She focused her attention for a second. "Looks like a light tank! Doesn't have a large cannon, but it's got dual machine guns instead!"

"Gotcha!" His crimson eyes burned brightly then receded. "Move!"

Hinata dashed from her cover to charge the tank. Her superior vision could clearly see Naruto's chakra emanating from his body to create a loose shield in front of them. The tanks heavy machine guns fired at them only to have the bullets ricochet off the swelling wall of chakra.

"Cover!" Uzi suddenly yelled out as the Konoha runaways reached spitting distance of the armored vehicle. They immediately leaped sideways for cover into crowded alleyways as the tank suddenly went up in flames.

"Did you do that?!" The Hyuuga yelled from her side of the street.

"Nope! We were the decoy!"

"Then who…?"

Her question was answered when her Byakugan saw a swift horde of red-eyes on the other side of the smoking wreckage. One of them had stuffed a sticky bomb into the exposed fuel tank while she and Naruto distracted the tank. "_Good teamwork,_" she said inwardly.

"Scatter!" They heard a muted voice come from one of the rooftops as they left their cover. All the red-eyes, Naruto included, immediately took new cover elsewhere in the large bullet ridden courtyard that the dead tank had passed through. "It's a walker!" The voice added before a slew of unusually dull gunfire cut it down in a dieing gurgle.

"Walker?!" Naruto said out of surprise as he poked his head over his stone block. Hinata already noticed the massive vehicle, if it could be classified as one. The body resembled an armored personnel carrier with the exception of being twice the size of one, and the thing was elevated at least one story into the air by four massive steel legs covered in smooth aerodynamic armor plating. She could see the source of the muted gunfire: a strange looking auto cannon that fired high intensity chakra bullets. The ammunition flew from its stringy barrel and burned glassy holes into the stone barricades before passing through them.

"Hinata!" Naruto called. "Is there a weak point on that thing?!"

"Hold on!" She focused her attention on the forward weapon as it was producing the most amount of power. Her advanced vision saw that the gun produced little heat, which was odd considering that the bullets were hot enough to melt stone into glass and still travel through. She began scanning the massive walking vehicle for some sort of heat dump, and saw several boiling hot vents on the top. "Naruto! There are heating vents on top of that thing! If you can plug them it should make the gun overheat!"

"Gotcha!" His eyes flared again as he yelled out to the other red-eyes in hiding. "Distract that damn thing! I'll take it down!"

A few red-eyes popped around corners and took potshots at the gun before it redirected its fire towards them. The Hyuuga woman marveled at their teamwork, as the distracting red-eyes waited for the gun to point in the opposite direction before revealing themselves, thus making the gun take a few precious seconds longer to reconfirm targets.

However, she was more amazed by what she saw Naruto doing. Her special eyes could see chakra building up in his left arm and being focused into his left hand. He ducked out of his cover as soon as the auto turret swung farther away and slapped his hand on the ground, discharging the chakra from his arm and flinging him into the air in a similar fashion to a catapult. As his trajectory brought him back onto the top of the machine, he thrust his left hand forward and a wave of slashing chakra shot forth from the tattoos in a chaotic pattern. The whirlwind of blades struck the armored surface of the war machine and cut deep gashes all the way through the foot thick steel like butter before dissipating into the floor below.

Hinata was dumbstruck by the blonde's display of power before she saw an enormous buildup of chakra inside the machine. "Naruto! Look out!"

"What?" He said as he landed on the exploding surface of the four legged tank. Some sort of generator or concealed weapon had been severely damaged by his attack and went critical, crumpling the thick metal plating like paper in a fire and melting it like ice in a stove. Somehow, Naruto managed to jump out of the wreckage in time, although how he did it was beyond her.

Her curious mind was answered as he landed in front of her with a smile plastered on his face. Her Byakugan was still active and could easily see a limb of chakra protruding from her former crush in the shape of…

"Is that a tail?" She asked.

"Huh?" He looked back at his visible appendage. "Yeah! That's the fox's chakra. I can pull out a few tails at any time. Pretty useful, huh?" He gloated as he jerked a thumb back at the collapsing hunk of superheated metal. "Anyways, let's head for the bigger fight." With that, the eastern duo and the majority of red-eyed fighters broke out in a run towards the main Agende Vhansin compound which was taking the heaviest beating out of the entire city.

----------------------------

A negotiator stood behind an armored car and yelled into his megaphone, "We will give you one last chance to hand over the suspect. If you will not comply, we will storm the compound and search it until we find her!"

A faint voice could be heard from the other side of the bullet ridden wall. "She ain't here! Go away!"

The military man shook his head in frustration as his anger got the better of him. "Listen, freaks!" He shouted into the handheld noise amplifying device. "Either you hand over the woman or we're taking you down! We should do it anyway; be one less group of you red-eye freaks to deal with!"

An older Agende Vhansin suddenly appeared at the top of his home's gate and overlooked the assembled forces with an authoritative air about him. "You sure that's such a good idea?!" He taunted. "You come into _my_ city and kill _my_ people and demand that _we_ give into your pathetic little show of something you think is force?!"

"All teams, fire at will!" The majority of the troops obeyed as they proceeded to empty their clips into the red-eyed specialist to no avail, unless laughing like an escaped mental patient counted.

"You ignorant fools!" The red-eyed man continued to mock them violently. "Didn't you do _any_ research before coming here?!" The slew of bullets stopped flying as the harsh energy protruding from his tattoos began to cascade outward. "We are the Agende Vhansin, masters of fear! You will all die here today!"

As if the speech were a command, the gathered throng of soldiers was ambushed from every direction by the yellow-eyed specialists.

----------------------------

The Konoha duo and company were a few blocks from the central compound when they began to hear screaming. Hinata focused her Byakugan forward and immediately saw the cause of the ruckus. At that moment, she was grateful that her bloodline could only see in outlines and chakra coils.

She saw Agende Vhansin members tearing apart and consuming enemy soldiers while they were still alive. Troops were knocked over and eaten alive by groups of the specialist cannibals. No matter how many bullets they fired, the doomed invaders hit nothing but air or cascading chakra as the swarm of fear inducing man-eaters overwhelmed them.

Hinata stopped and leaned against a wall to catch her breath while resisting the urge to vomit. Naruto saw that something was wrong and stopped next to her.

"What's up?" He inquired.

"Those… Agende Vhansin…" She wasn't sure how to voice her fright and disgust.

"Ah…" He nodded with understanding. "First time seeing the Agende Vhansin fight. Yeah, they're pretty gruesome. I know how you feel."

She took in several deep breaths and shut off her bloodline. She closed her eyes to block out another sense as she focused on calming down. As soon as she could speak without fear of suddenly puking, she said, "It looks like they don't need our help right now. Is there somewhere else we could go?"

Naruto looked around before settling his red and blue eyes on another location and pointing it out to the blue haired woman. "Looks like the main housing district is under some pretty intense stuff. Let's head there."

Hinata nodded and the pair started off toward their new destination. She noticed that a certain handful of red-eyes seemed to specifically follow them. She looked back at a few of the familiar faces and was met with acknowledging looks.

They spent the next few minutes running hell-bent to the war zone. Each little skirmish they passed on the way was easily handled by the trailing red-eyes so the eastern duo didn't have to detour from their objective.

When they finally arrived, that portion of the city was devastated. No building was left perfectly intact and the ground was littered with bodies from both forces and debris that choked the streets. Hinata activated her Byakugan as soon as they arrived and flinched at what she saw.

"Naruto," she addressed the blond next to her, "There are six more of those walker things here…"

"Alright, no sweat. Plenty of cover…"

"They're bigger than that first one…"

"I can run up buildings…"

"And they're much better armed than the first one as well."

He didn't have a response other than, "What?"

"They've got troops on platforms, more of those auto turrets, and they've got some kind of larger weapon mounted to the top. There's one now! Stop!"

Everyone immediately took cover behind a partially leveled building. A red-eyed soldier poked his head around the corner and viewed the nearby walker. "She's right," he said as he turned back and his eyes burned brighter. "They're friggin' huge."

"Uzi," another red-eye addressed him, "Leave the troops up to us. We'll provide the distractions."

"Got it," Naruto replied as the crimson in his eyes lit up. "Hinata, let's go."

"Right."

The long time runaways moved into the wrecked building as the other red-eyed troops moved to other various positions. As soon as the pair reached the 'top' of the somewhat collapsed building, Naruto saw the enormous walker.

He observed several troops go limp as their blood splattered the hull behind them, the handiwork of his red-eyed admirers. The walker's legs pounded the ground as it turned to face the building, auto cannons whirring to life. A salvo of the superheated ammo flew from the coiling wires of the guns and imbedded themselves into glassy holes along the building.

Hinata drew her pistol in anticipation of boarding the large machine even though she knew the blond man next to her was fully capable of outright destroying it. She searched for a weak point on the behemoth and couldn't find any internal heat sources other than the crew. "There's no weak point on that thing!" She yelled over the dull impacts of the hot bullets against the structure. "We'll have to take out the crew!"

Naruto nodded and ran into a clearing of the wreckage on the new roof. Once again, he built up his chakra in his left arm and hand and prepared to catapult himself over the wall. As soon as he slapped the ground, though, four tails emerged and struck the ground behind him, launching him even higher into the ground. Once he cleared the wall, the tails moved in front of him to act as a shield against the barrage of superheated and normal bullets. The ammo fired by the troops simply ricocheted off, but the chakra induced metal lingered for a second more before smoldering into nothing.

Hinata took the advantage given to her and gathered chakra in her legs. She launched herself off the edge of the 'roof' and just managed to clear the space between her and the platform of the approaching metal monster. The troops that noticed her sudden appearance were too stunned to react before she lifted her pistol and ended their lives. She scooped up an automatic rifle dropped by one of the dead serviceman and emptied the clip into the gathering of troops who almost never noticed her. As soon as the gun stopped firing, she picked up another and repeated the process until she properly finished the job. She looked up as she felt a pair of eyes gazing at her and saw Naruto crouched above her.

"Good job, Hinata!" He said with a smile. "That was impressive! You didn't even break a sweat!"

She returned the smile. "Thanks! Now let's take out that crew."

He nodded in agreement as he jumped down onto the platform in front of the entrance hatch. The tails reared back and shot forward, knocking the heavy hatch inwards. Naruto moved into the doorway and stopped, letting the tails' reach grow and move throughout the cramped spaces and impale the surprised crew. After a few seconds, the tails retracted to their normal length.

"Not so tough after all!" He gloated.

Hinata smiled at her partner in crime before her Byakugan saw a sharp increase in chakra from another walker that had turned towards them.

"Shit!" She yelled. "Get off! Get off!"

The blond red-eyes grabbed her and leapt off the walker, tails jutting below them to break their fall and transform it into a soft landing. As soon as they hit the ground, the energy appendages shot up and formed a shield against the walker. The stationary piece of massive metal was struck by a blinding white light and shattered in a fantastic explosion which peppered the area with large chunks of smoldering debris.

"The hell was that?!" Naruto yelled in surprise.

Hinata examined the trail of dissipating chakra back to the offending walker's larger top-mounted weapon. "That's what those big guns do, I guess."

Naruto's burning crimson eyes flashed even brighter for a moment as his eyes widened then relaxed. "Alright, that one'll get taken care of. Let's move on to the next."

Hinata wondered what he meant by that and took another look at the walker several blocks away. Her bloodline eyes saw the familiar frightening chakra of the Agende Vhansin forming up its legs and realized that the cannibals were easily boarding the war machine in the hardest of ways. The chakra cascaded in the front of the boarders to block the gunfire of the defending troops. Once again, another scene of slaughter that made her sick to her stomach played out, and the walker was cleared of enemies within minutes.

At this point, she and Naruto were already near the next invading walker as it pinned down a large group of red-eyes in a building. The pair was about to repeat their process when the light around the large gun suddenly bent inwards as if being sucked into the machine. The supposed muzzle of the large gun glowed white and released the brilliant light into the building, making it collapse instantly.

"You bastards!" The blond red-eye yelled and caught Hinata's attention. His eyes glossed over with pure crimson and five more tails appeared and buried themselves in one of the legs of the walker, ripping it to shreds. The machine began to dip as its support was torn out from under it and took several seconds to successfully collapse. The heavy machine crumpled like an accordion as the mounted gun came loose from its hinges and landed fairly intact on the ground. The tails wrapped themselves around the machine and lifted it off the ground, pulling it towards Naruto.

"What are you doing?!" Hinata's cries fell on deaf ears as the gun was brought to bear by the demonic chakra tails. One of the tails was loosed from the weapon and thrust itself into the metal ring implanted in Naruto's left wrist. The tail was sucked into the implant completely as the remaining appendages aimed the gun at another active walker closer to the edge of Hive City. Uzi placed his blazing tattooed left hand against the back of the weapon and the thing began to charge again.

This time, though, Hinata could see that the tails were being sucked into the device as well as the chakra slowly draining from Naruto's hand. She became frightened as the weapon began to shake and glow as its full capacity was being exceeded. At the last possible second, Naruto released all the chakra from his tattooed hand into the incredible discharge of the weapon. The burning red shot of compressed chakra flew towards the walker with amazing brilliance. To any normal eye, this shot only differed from the first in color, but the Byakugan could tell that it was entirely different. The bright white light was merely a chakra induced burst, but this projectile was formed from an extremely compressed, highly unstable sphere of chaotic chakra. When the shot impacted the intended walker, it suddenly opened into a wave of slicing chakra that first tore the machine to pieces then vaporized the remnants, sending any remaining slivers flying miles away from the city.

The Hyuuga woman was scared at the change she saw in her recently found target. "N- Naruto?" She tried to get his attention. "W- What's wrong?" She moved closer to him and saw his eyes were still fully burning, hatred practically leaking out of him. She moved closer and hugged him from the back to try to snap him out of it. "Please calm down," she said as she could feel him initially tense up. His heavy breathing began to slow and the murderous feeling began to die away. After a few more moments she asked, "Are you okay?"

His head nodded as he replied. "Yeah, I'm fine." She released her hold on him and he turned to face her with a downcast look on his face. "Thanks, Hinata."

She gave a subdued smile. "No problem, Naruto."

The moment was interrupted as another of the white light projectiles could be heard impacting into a building close by. The pair turned their heads in the direction of the sound then looked back at each other.

"Well," Naruto said with humility in his voice, "Let's get going."

"Yeah," she replied.

* * *

As usual, make your reviews full of your unfaltering love for me (or lack thereof (most likely)) and with your comments on how the story is progressing now that the 'Konoha duo' is finally united.

Oh, and I thought of something kinda cool. I get released from prison to go home for a month (aka: winter break during college), so I'll probably do a few pictures of the main characters from this fic (I'm actually a decent artist, so I promise it won't suck too bad). So if you have any talent whatsoever at artwork and are interested, here's my challenge:

Draw Naruto's new look going from the description in chapter 11. I'll post the details on my main account page, so if you really are interested, go take a look. I look forward to any participants (I know how 'successful' contests like this usually turn out, so I won't hold my breath. I need to breath while drinking.)

Catch ya'll later!


	13. Plain and Simple Down Time

Shorter chapter this time around. I'm kinda pissed right now; just got home from a Halo 3 tourney where my team DIDN'T make first place!! We lost to some of the biggest loads of luckiest shit I've ever seen before, and I'm not kidding either. Anyways, that's my problem, so just ignore the senseless venting.

On a side note, I see my art challenge has fallen (or is still falling) flat on its face. Can't say I'm too surprised, but I was hoping for at least a minor reception. Oh, well, life goes on...

disclaimer (do I really need to say this every time?): Naruto's not mine, and neither is that tournament championship!

Also: Language Warning!!

* * *

It took another two hours before the invasion force of Hive City was completely neutralized. The red-eyes were ultimately victorious, but the city was terribly damaged and the loss of life on both sides was tremendous. Naruto and Hinata strolled through the wreckage towards the Agende Vhansin compound, the largest remaining building in the city that wasn't significantly damaged. Amidst the emergency crews and specialists hurrying about, they were met by a stationary older Agende Vhansin whose posture indicated power and authority.

"Uzi!" The domineering red-eye exclaimed. "Good to see you made it! Thank you for your assistance."

"Not a problem!" Naruto put on a cheerful facade. "Always glad to help out an old friend!"

The man's gaze shifted towards the Hyuuga. "Who's this?" He asked with a crazed smile. "You finally find a partner?"

Naruto laughed heartily while a minute amount of blood rose to Hinata's face. "Nah! She's an old friend from back east!" He tried to play it off.

"I see," the red-eyed specialist said as if he bought it, "So what's your name, friend of Uzi?"

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga," she replied humbly and gave a slight bow. "Pleased to meet you…"

"Sanvatas Agende Vhansin! I am the current head of my family, and this is my city. Or rather," he added with less enthusiasm, "What's left of it."

"It's unfortunate," she sympathized with the red-eyed leader. "But at least it's still mostly intact."

"Indeed it is. By the way," His voice shifted from a cheerful to businesslike manner, "Those soldiers were looking for someone; someone not a red-eye, they claimed. I'm guessing that would be you?"

Her face contorted as she thought. "Might as well have been. I have no idea why they'd send so many after me, though."

"Are you sure? You didn't steal anything from the royal treasury or intercept some kind of prize bounty the military wanted?"

"No…" She was still thinking.

"Oh!" Naruto snapped his fingers as a revelation appeared to him. "I'll bet I know! You broke into that military base while freeing Trench and his gang, right?"

She nodded.

"That's probably it. But it still doesn't explain why there were so many troops…"

"She was probably an excuse to attack the city," Sanvatas interrupted. "The sovereignty of Hive City was guaranteed by the last king, and no matter how many amendments our current tyrant adds, he still can't retract that law."

"I've been wondering about that," Hinata started. "If all red-eyes are decreed criminals, why would this city be a safe haven?"

Her frightening host sighed. "The current leader is still subject to the old laws even if he is a total asshole. If he flat out breaks the law, he is subject to the appropriate punishment. I'm sure your 'crime' could be considered serious enough to pursue you at all costs, and what better cover is there for leveling an unwanted city harboring a national criminal?"

The Konoha couple thought about this while scratching their heads. In a twisted way, it made sense.

"Ah well, the storm has passed!" Sanvatas broke out in his creepy cheerfulness again. "So, where you guys gonna head to now?"

Hinata looked over to Naruto, seeing as how she planned on following him from now on. "Well," he started, "I was thinking of heading south to Soukan."

"Meeting up with our forces there?"

"Yeah. Plus," Naruto's eyes lit up when he gave a spirited 'thumbs up', "There's a huge rock concert there!!"

Hinata almost fell over. "_What on earth is he thinking??_"

Sanvatas merely nodded his head in understanding. "Good reason; a man's gotta live a little from time to time." His eyes widened as he remembered something. "Oh! Here, you might want this." He reached into a pack that was loosely slung around his waist and pulled out two hand-sized jars of orange tainted liquid and a syringe with several spare needles bound to the tube and handed them to Uzi.

"What's this?"

"This is that drug my family just made. We call it 'instinct juice'. The stuff works as one hell of a stimulant, but it dumbs your mind down while it's in your system. I figured with your… powers, it should be an excellent supplement."

"Uh… thanks," he responded as if he were just handed road kill as a sincere gift.

"You should try it at least once before deciding you don't like it." His head suddenly widened as a maniacal smile exploded onto his face. "It's great stuff!" His insane attitude died. "If you still don't like it, just hand off small portions to our outposts on your way to Soukan. Give 'em just enough to reproduce the stuff. We'll be in need of it soon enough."

Hinata stayed silent throughout Sanvatas's explanation, but she already had a bad feeling about the orange liquid.

Naruto stuffed the jars into his compact travel pack. "Alright, Sanvatas. Thanks a bunch!" He and the white-eyed Hyuuga woman started towards the city gates. "Say hi to your kids for me!"

"Will do, Uzumaki!" The red-eyed specialist shouted back using the blonde's less commonly used name.

-------------------------------

Itachi and Kisame stood atop a hill overlooking most of the still smoking red-eyed city. "Well, at least they put up a good show," the man who resembled marine life more than humans spoke matter-of-factly.

Itachi responded with a nod.

"Good thing we didn't get involved in that one. As good as we may be, that would've been a bit much."

Another nod. The rogue Uchiha's silence annoyed the shark man.

"So what's the plan now? We gonna let the military know where they're headed again? Or are we gonna go take them down now?"

There was a brief silence before a reply. "We will continue to trail them."

"What? Why? Look, they're traveling alone this time…"

"Naruto Uzumaki has displayed significantly more growth than predicted. Furthermore, my sharingan could not break down his techniques. His fighting style has evolved in a… strange way."

"And that's stopping us how?!"

"I believe it would be wise to continue to monitor Uzumaki to see what other tricks he has up his sleeves. If that was merely an unusually strong show of force in the city, then we will capture him with no problems."

Kisame sighed, exasperated at the lack of action as of late. "Fine, fine… he's your target. But if you take any longer, I'm takin' your kill, you got it?!"

Itachi only regarded his teammate for a moment with his bloodline eyes. His gaze was cold and heartless enough that the human fish almost felt the temperature drop.

-------------------------------

"Damn, still can't believe you got your ass handed to you by that…" Suigetsu never finished his sentence due to a fist splattering his head.

"You shut up!" Karin defended the younger Uchiha. "It was a fluke, you got it?! That weird glowing guy just got lucky!! Right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke said nothing, opting to continue his journey to intercept Naruto and, by association, Itachi.

As soon as Suigetsu's watery head reformed, he spoke out against his female teammate. "You know, one of these days I'm gonna cleave you in two!"

"Yeah, right! You couldn't even take on your old teacher and take his sword! You had to settle for a normal big-ass sword!"

"It's wasn't my fault Zabuza took over the Hidden Mist Village and had that freak of a bodyguard!"

Juugo broke his silence and muttered, "Amazing that a man could look so much like a woman…"

"Why are you here, anyway?!" Karin continued the argument.

"I'm taking Kisame Hoshigaki's sword!"

"Bullshit! You couldn't take down Zabuza Mamochi and you think you can take on Kisame Hoshigaki?! You really are stupid, aren't you?! I'll even bet you're trying to compensate for something with all those big swords of yours!!"

"Enough!" Sasuke raised his voice to end the shouting match. His head was actually starting to ache due to the excessive noise. "If any of you say another word for the rest of the day, I'll kill you. So shut up."

The combative duo obeyed, albeit unwillingly. This conversation of insults could have gone on all day. They glared evilly at each other as the group came in sight of Hive City.

"Alright," Sasuke stated. "I don't think he's here anymore. Let's find out where he went."

* * *

(Yawn) Three in the morning. Head hurts from too many screens and too much sugar. Must hit the hay. G'night, ya'll... 


	14. Da Powaaa!

Two more days before Thanksgiving break!!! Sw3333t!! Anyways, here's the next chapter.

disclaimer (as usual): Naruto is not mine. Never will be either. And guess what: no language this time!!

* * *

Over the next four days, Naruto and Hinata traveled south to Soukan from Hive City. They had made numerous stops along the way to pass off samples of the Agende Vhansin's drug to various outposts, which added up to one vial's worth.

Along the way, the pair discussed the detail of their journeys westward. Hinata now knew everything Naruto had gone through in his travels, and he knew everything about her trek as well. She also learned that during his time in the west he had developed a love of rock music so great that it rivaled his love of ramen, which was part of the reason they now traveled to Soukan.

When they finally arrived at the gates of their intended city, they passed through the light security painlessly and safely entered the city. Why the guards didn't ask Naruto to remove his sunglasses or inspect the duo at all was beyond her. "_Did he develop some kind of mind trick?_" The Hyuuga woman wondered.

"Ah, before we hit up the local scene," Naruto said as he paused from his skipping for joy, "There's someone here we've gotta meet."

"Who?"

He leaned in closer. "Master Sünden," he said in a hushed tone. "He's the first red-eye and the first of the three masters."

She found this fact interesting. "So there _are _leaders of the red-eyes?"

He shook his head. "Not anymore; he's the last one. The other two passed away already."

"Oh…" She said in understanding. "_They must be real old…_" she concluded.

"Anyways," the blonde easterner said cheerfully, "Let's get going! I want to finish up our business with him before the competition starts!"

"_Competition?_" She asked inwardly.

---------------------------

After twenty minutes of casually strolling through the grungy city streets, the couple approached a modest house in a simple neighborhood. Naruto knocked on the door nine times in rapid succession and it cracked open. A mirrored eye glared at the smiling man's face and the door shut again. Numerous locks being unlatched could be heard on the other side before the wooden door opened again.

"Please follow me, Uzi," addressed a soft-spoken young red-eyed man. He led the easterners to a room close to the back of the homely building as a goggled man shut the front door and relocked it. "Master Sünden will be with you shortly," he said as he left the room.

"Wow," said a seemingly impressed Naruto, "This is a real comfortable safe house." The two sat on a smaller couch and felt the fluffy cushions mold around them. His eyes immediately began to flutter as he was tempted with sleep.

"Did you not get enough sleep?" Hinata asked curiously, seeing as how they set up camp every night and got decent amounts of rest.

"Just tired from all the traveling…" His voice sounded far off. "I haven't stayed in any one place more than a week for the past few months."

"Gotchya." She knew that it was true; he moved around quite often.

Uzi fought a losing battle with his tiredness for several minutes and finally fell into a light slumber. The blue haired woman began to feel her eyelids become weighted as well when she felt a presence enter the room.

"Oh wow," said a warm calm voice, "I got two visitors at once. I must be getting popular." The voice released a small chuckle as Naruto woke up and Hinata turned to see the voice's owner.

The man was probably in his mid-forties; he had aged well, so accurately determining his age was that much more difficult. He had jet black hair that was slicked back, somehow amplifying the dulled crimson in his dark eyes. The subtle wrinkles of his face gave the impression of a gentle warmness not unlike that of a kind grandfather. His clothes were simple; a long dark grey coat neatly tucked into an aging pair of pants. The only thing unusual at all about the man was that his arms and legs were extensively wrapped in belts.

"Master Sünden!" Naruto shot up as he broke from sleep and gazed at his leader. "Good to see you again!"

"Good to see again as well, Naruto." He responded with a warm smile as he took a seat opposite his visitors. "And you," he referred to Hinata, "I don't think I've met you."

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga," she responded with a tone of respect towards his warm friendliness.

"Miss Hinata," he bowed his head slightly, "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Sünden, first master of the red-eyes."

"So Sünden," Naruto continued, "What's up? You wanted to see me about something?"

"Yes." His demeanor turned to that of a professional businessman. "As I'm sure you've noticed, my seal is beginning to wane. Very soon my life will come to a close and I'll need to find proper replacements for my…" His eyes darted towards Hinata for a split second. "…gifts."

Uzi nodded his head in understanding. "I'm sorry we'll be losing you so soon, I really am." Extra moisture built up in one eye seeking to become a tear. "You've done a lot for me and I've haven't been able to pay you back for it."

"Um…" Hinata hesitantly interrupted the two red-eyes. "I'm a bit lost, so could you fill me in on what's going on?"

"Of course, young lady," Sünden replied with humble cheerfulness. "When I was about four years old, there was a large cult that was attempting to create a utopia. They realized early on that for such a perfect place to exist, the people residing in such a world would also need to be perfect. Of course no one can claim that title, so they came up with a contingency plan."

"And that was…?"

"They would use a child as a scapegoat for all their sins."

The Hyuuga cocked her head in confusion. Sünden noticed and chuckled at her befuddlement.

"They decided to seal all their follower's sins into one person. They chose a child so that the scapegoat would never know what 'good' was to make a comparison with its current situation so it wouldn't be as unhappy, or so it could easily be killed, I'm not sure which."

The white-eyed bounty hunter made the connection. "Were you that child?"

"She's a smart girl, Naruto." He commented to the blond red-eye with a smirk. "You should hang onto her. That's right," he replied to her revelation. "I was that scapegoat. One day, all those thousands of people sealed all their sins into me," he parted his coat and lifted up his shirt to reveal a dull seal in the shape of an 'X'. "And since there is no such thing as a perfect human, their combined sins released themselves and consumed them all." He described the horrid scene with a matter-of-fact tone and an unchanging kindness in his face.

The eastern woman was taken aback by his calmness about such an event. "But… what does that have anything to do with you being a red-eyes?"

"Everything," he continued. "When that cult of thousands was killed, everyone knew about their little experiment. I received treatment similar to Naruto during his childhood. In a desperate attempt to make friends, I used my power to create an infection: the crimson eyes."

"What? How would that have…"

"Our red eyes allow us to communicate on a basic level," Naruto clarified the explanation. "Our minds are somewhat connected, so everyone understands how the others feel. Does that make any sense?"

"Sort of."

"I apologize for the lack of clarity about our abilities," Sünden interrupted, "But there's really no way to describe it if you're not one of us."

"That's okay," Hinata wondered why the leader of the red-eyes was apologizing for not being able to deliver a clear and concise explanation, but she accepted it anyway. "Naruto mentioned there were other leaders. What happened to them?"

"Ah, Lisa and Juku… my oldest friends…" Sünden's face adopted a distant stare. "Lisa finally shouldered too many responsibilities and was killed in the line of duty, and Juku perished from this world while he sealed the gates of hell."

"What?" She didn't quite comprehend that last part.

He met her question with a sad smile. "He was a demon slayer. A group of powerful demons attempted to force open a gate between our world and theirs. He entered their realm to close it off. None of us actually saw him die, but we can't feel his presence anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Miss Hinata. Anyway, the seal that holds in my power is beginning to… Gah!!" His sentence was cut short as he shot out of his chair and doubled over in pain.

"Master Sünden!!" Naruto cried as several attendants burst into the room. All the red-eyes present crowded around their leader as he gasped in pain. For a few on and off moments, his normally warm demeanor was traded off with indescribable feelings of every extreme human emotion ranging from hatred to lust. After a minute or so, Sünden's breathing slowed and he sat back in his chair, winded at his ordeal.

"As you just witnessed," he spoke in between deep breaths, "The seal holding in all that power is weakening. Soon enough, it won't be able to hold anything back and I'll be destroyed as the power releases itself. Naruto," he addressed the still-worried blond red-eye, "I don't think this power should only be divided between the three apprentices."

"What do you mean?" Uzi asked. "They're the strongest of us aside from you."

"You forgot about yourself," he pointed out with a smile. "But I appreciate your humility. I think the power is simply too strong to be held by just those three without having their lives shortened like mine."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that when my time finally comes, I want you to be a fourth recipient of this power."

"What?!" Both Naruto and Hinata yelped in surprise.

"With its strength split four ways, it will be significantly weaker. You may have no personal training from the original masters, but your housed entity would be more than enough to keep this power in check, and vice versa."

The Hyuuga looked at Naruto to see his reaction. After an eternity of ten seconds, he finally reached a conclusion.

"Thank you for the honor, Master Sünden."

---------------------------

"Naruto," Hinata looked upon her old crush, "Why did you accept? I don't mean to sound rude, but this is a big deal isn't it?"

"It is," he replied with a smile. "Master Sünden is the one who helped me keep the damn fox from taking over. That's why I can use so much of its energy without losing my mind."

The Hyuuga recalled the frightening incident back in the red-eye city. "But didn't you 'lose your mind' back in Hive City?"

"I lost my cool, and that lead to me losing more control. Trust me; it used to be much worse."

She nodded even though she still worried about him. "_He talks about it as if it's nothing, but it's so much to deal with at once…_"

"Hey, you want to get something to eat before the contest starts?"

"You bet. Wait, what contest?"

"Rock contest," he launched into a brief breakdown. "It's where a bunch of bands face off one after another and a winner is picked by the audience. It's really a lot of fun!"

"Gotchya." She smiled; his enthusiasm was still contagious after all these years. She was about to strike up another conversation when she noticed a group of four people clad in black approach them.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" Asked the lead man.

Uzi snapped into alertness. "Yeah… who are you?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

* * *

Good times. Still likin' the story? There's plenty more in store! (I mean, c'mon, they've yet to meet Itachi and the fish man) 


	15. I love rock! How about you!

One more day left until Thanksgiving break!!!! Sweet!!!!

I've suddenly got this new slew of readers, and I honestly don't know how they found me. I'm befuddled (in a good way)!

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just this plot and my mild paranoia.

Warning: Extra Swearing this time!!!!

* * *

The blue-haired Hyuuga and the blonde red-eye blinked at the familiar name.

"Sasuke Uchiha…" Naruto repeated, trying to place the name. "Unusual name. Are you from the east?"

"Yes," Sasuke gave an emotionless reply.

"Really…" Uzi began to move his arm back in preparation for wielding his trademark submachine gun. "And you are here because…?"

"I am looking for my older brother Itachi."

"Who?" Hinata inquired, as she couldn't recall there being a second Uchiha.

"Itachi Uchiha," interrupted the red haired woman behind Sasuke. "Missing ninja from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, S-class criminal, and member of the Akatsuki organization."

"She a subordinate?" The eastern red-eye asked tersely.

"Who the hell…!" The woman started her rant but never finished.

"Yes," The younger Uchiha cut her off. "That's Karin. She's our tracker. He's Juugo," he tilted his head toward the towering hulk of a man, "And he's Suigetsu," he tilted his head back at the former Mist swordsman.

"They're not from Konoha…" Hinata spoke up. She knew for a fact that none of these people were ever native to her old village. "So where are they from?"

The dark man sighed. "A lot's happened since you two left. I suggest you take a seat."

Naruto obeyed the suggestion, but his apprehensive gaze never left the group. The Hyuuga woman took a seat next to him across from the now relaxed newcomer easterners.

"To begin, Konoha has been destroyed."

"What?" The eastern duo spoke at once. Hinata's voice carried surprise while Naruto's tone still wavered with distrust of the newcomers.

"About two years after you left, the village was attacked by the combined forces of the Sound and Sand villages. The enemy shinobi were eventually repelled by our retaliation force, but their secret weapon made short order of our forces and the rest of the village."

"Secret weapon?" Hinata repeated.

"Gaara of the Sand. He transformed into the one tailed beast, Shukaku, and leveled the village. Most of the Konoha shinobi were killed, and the rest were taken by Orochimaru for experiments."

"What about the civilians?"

"They suffered the same fate."

"And who's Orochimaru?"

The younger Uchiha silently regarded her for a moment. "He's dead, so there's no need for concern. I killed him."

"Is that it?" Naruto broke his silence with an uncaring voice.

"That's the most of it. After the village was destroyed, I went under the tutelage of Orochimaru and killed him a few years afterward." He mentioned his murder with no remorse or sadness. "I'm currently looking for my older brother."

"Why?"

"When I was young, he killed off my entire clan. I intend to take my revenge and then restore my clan."

Naruto stared at the raven haired man with apathetic eyes. "Tough shit."

"What?" He seemed genuinely surprised along with the rest of his group.

"So you lost your family? That's it?" Hinata could sense the blonde's growing irritation. "I never even had one, and that damn city kicked me out for a crappy reason. I've lost more friends than you've ever had, and I'm still livin' it up."

"What the hell are you saying?!" The newcomer let his anger get the better of him. "Are you saying I don't deserve to kill that bastard?!"

"No," he continued in a calm yet demeaning voice, "I'm saying you're a damn fool. You spent your whole life preparing to kill one man instead of moving on? You're the biggest fool I've ever met."

"You have _no_ idea what I've been through! How dare you…!"

"_How dare you!!_" Naruto exploded with anger. The easterners tensed as they felt a sudden wave of anger radiating from the blonde red-eye. "You want to cast your judgment on me before without hearing about your own faults?! You're a whiny little shit!! I wish I never met you, you pathetic little piece of self-absorbed shit!!"

Sasuke was initially taken aback by Naruto's rant, but he composed himself. "I didn't come here to fight, Naruto." He tried to calm the blonde down. "Itachi is searching for you to use your 'tenant' in the Akatsuki's weapon. As long as I stick around you, I will have my chance at vengeance."

Naruto's burning red eyes died down under his sunglasses as his temper cooled. "Fine, follow me around if you want. But I'm not helpin' you out if you get into anything deep! Got that?"

The Uchiha nodded nonchalantly while his subordinates stared in shock at the blonde's sudden mood swing.

"Good. Hinata," he turned towards the blue-haired woman and forced a smile. "Contest!"

She returned the false smile. "You got it."

The couple started down the street with the four newcomers trailing them at a reasonable distance, whether due to fear from Naruto's outbreak or leaving enough distance so as to not discourage Itachi from making his move was anyone's guess. The silence between the red-eye and his white-eyed companion was incredibly awkward.

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto suddenly broke the secrecy of sound. "I can take this off now." He started undoing the bandage on his right arm. "Wanna see?"

Hinata nodded with a light smile. She welcomed the subject change.

Uzi pulled apart the adhesive portions of his dressing and the cloth spiraled off his arm, revealing two new tattoos. The ink art consisted of two simple red lines; the longer one ran straight from his shoulder to a circle just behind his wrist, the other one was located on the other side of his arm and shared the exact same pattern except that the line extending from the circle ended on the edge of his forearm.

"Interesting…" The white-eyed bounty hunter said as she activated her bloodline. She had previously witnessed that the tattoos on his left hand always carried an extra (yet harmless) amount of chakra, but the new ones already stored enough to be a threat. She could see the chakra radiating along the inked arm as if ready to strike at a moment's notice. "Do you know how it works?"

"Eh, the doc briefed me on it. He said that I could extend my energy from this somehow. I'm not too sure how to use it yet, but time will tell."

She smiled at her former crush. "_At least there's one thing to keep him distracted?_" She thought about his outburst at the younger Uchiha. "_Is he like that all the time, though?_"

-----------------------------

The metal competition had started many hours ago and was creeping into the early hours of the next day. Hinata learned that Soukan was a serious music city that rivaled Roventia in terms of its concerts. Sure, Roventia had the best synthesized audio pleasure around, but Soukan was home to several big-name rock bands.

Naruto's delight was palpable. He had shed his glasses long ago, revealing his crimson eyes to anyone who cared. While this initially worried Hinata, her anxiousness was eased by the warm reception he received from the crowd who noticed him. "_The red-eyes must be popular here as well…_"

The contest portion of the concert had ended recently with the final band delivering a heart pounding performance. Before the announcer began bringing out each band to receive their popularity cheer, Uzi dragged Hinata to the mosh pit. With each passing band, Naruto and the Hyuuga, who got caught up in his exuberance, cheered at the top of their lungs for each group. In the end though, a winner was chosen and an encore was given. As the victorious bunch left the stage, the star attraction of the night was brought out for a few more songs before the day was illuminated. It was, apparently, one of the popular bands that originated in the city. After they performed the final song, the announcer entered the stage to bring some special news.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!!" He was met with cheering, more or less towards the band rather than him. "We have an unexpected guest here tonight!! You all know him, you all love him!!" He pointed into the area directly in front of the stage. "I give you Uzi!!" The roar of the crowd increased significantly.

"What?!" Naruto was shocked to be pointed out.

The announcer lowered his mike and motioned for the blonde to come on stage. The popular red-eye complied and was met with even louder cheering from the audience. He was handed the microphone and his boisterous side took over.

"What's up, Soukan?!" He yelled into the mike; grin as wide as his face. "Tonight was awesome, wasn't it?!" The audience voiced their positive opinion rather loudly again and began chanting for an encore, implying him to be a part of it.

"You want an encore, do ya?!" Yelled the lead singer. "We'll give ya one!" He turned aside to Naruto and said, "Dude, you got any special requests we know?"

His face lit up. "You bet! 'Metal Livin'!" As a member handed him an electric guitar and the blonde began tuning it to his liking, he leaned towards the edge of the stage and said to Hinata, "We gotta split right after this! Get ready to go!"

She nodded in understanding. Everything was already prepped for travel, so all she had to do was enjoy her former crush's debut. She noticed that he started pumping small amounts of the fox's chakra into his hands and his fingernails lengthened and sharpened in response. "_Is he gonna play that way?!_"

Sure enough, he was. The band started the opening notes and Naruto joined in with amazing speed in his hands. He used his longer nails as picks and used the excess energy to move his hands back and forth quicker. The result: the most heart pounding rock anyone had heard all night. The requested song was only a few minutes long, but Hinata felt as if each minute were ten. By the time the fast-paced melody was complete, she noticed she hadn't taken a breath and wasn't alone in her admiration of the blonde red-eye, as a horde of rocker fangirls were equally entranced by the popular red-eye's performance.

"Thank you!!" Naruto yelled into the mike. "You guys have been awesome!! I'll catch you later!!" The crowd cheered him on and the female zealots unsuccessfully mobbed him as he leapt from the stage and took hold of Hinata and pushed his way through the crowd.

As soon as they were in the clear, he broke out in a run with Hinata in tow. "Naruto! That was awesome! I didn't know you could play so well!"

He smiled at her. "Yeah, well, when you're holed up for four weeks with nothing but a guitar, you learn something. My admirers following?"

The Hyuuga activated her Byakugan to check for the 'admirers', also known as Sasuke and his team. "Yep, they're still there. They're keeping their distance as before."

"Great," he replied with a hint of disdain in his voice. His voice changed to one of surprise as if he had just realized something. "Wait, you really thought I was good?"

The easterners continued out of the city until they were well away when the military got wind of Uzi's appearance.

* * *

I was listening to a group called Sabaton when I thought rock should somehow be incorporated here at some point. I heard their song "Metalizer", and it has a FSKING FAST guitarist, so I thought, "If Naruto had extra picks he could surely do this to...". And how else would he get extra picks? Use fox chakra on himself!

By the way, go buy a Sabaton cd (I wouldn't dare suggesting you download them...). It's good stuff if you like rock.

Well, stay tuned for at least one more chapter before Turkey day. If any of you are traveling, stay safe! Enjoy your family time!


	16. Some Fluff included! Because you asked!

Meh, short chapter. Two days from now: Turkey day!! (aka: Thanksgiving) 

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but the other stuff is mine. Including my (now empty) bottle of rum...

* * *

The sun rose to brighten the morning fog in the forest. Naruto and Hinata had taken to camping deep in overgrown areas, as it provided relative protection from prying eyes as well as serving as a more docile reminder of their former home in the east. Hinata was the first to wake from the sun's dulled light; she had always been sensitive to light in terms of slumber. 

The single tent the couple shared was somewhat cramped seeing as how it was never intended for two occupants. The Hyuuga could only wonder why Naruto never got in the habit of carrying his own portable shelter during the majority of his travels. When she pried open her sleepy eyes, she was surprised to find her compact pillow had hardened. And smelled differently…

A thought hit her and she jolted her eyes downward to find that she wasn't lying on her comforter at all, but rather a muscled chest slowly rising and falling with a steady breath. She instinctively panicked and tried to sit up, only to discover that her sleeping bag had transformed into a pair of familiar tattooed arms that held her down. She registered that she was trapped against the blonde red-eye, albeit pleasantly, and decided to settle for letting him wake on his own. After about ten minutes of somehow declining bliss (he had worked up a real sweat on the stage the previous night), she started stroking him on the head to rouse him.

He let out a grunt as he lifted his head. "Huh?" He said groggily as his red and blue eyes adjusted to the light of day. "Mornin'. Wait…" His recently awoken mind discovered their unordinary position. "What?" Was all he could manage to ask.

"Morning," she replied quietly. "Mind letting me go?"

He complied while taking a few deep whiffs of the air. "Do I really stink that bad?" He asked with humor lining his voice.

"You do!" She responded with sarcastic amusement as she rose to her feet. She felt a minor surge of blood rush to her head when she noticed that Naruto hadn't moved from his designated spot all night. "Well, breakfast?" She inquired simply.

"You bet," he pulled himself to his feet, bones throughout his body popping as he stretched out.

Hinata undid the zipper to the foldable shelter and stepped outside to be met by the seemingly bored yet curious faces of the four newcomers.

"Wow," Suigetsu started with mischief in his voice. "You two either sleep like rocks or you sure know how to keep it quiet." He was immediately bonded with a fist.

"Shut your filthy mouth!" Karin yelled as she pounced on her watery teammate. "Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"You were thinking the same damn thing you… ouch!" Suigetsu took his beatings rather well.

Hinata looked blankly at Sasuke. "Are they always like this?"

He nodded tiredly. "Every waking moment…"

----------------------------

The group of easterners continued along the roadside, Naruto leading them towards their unknown destination. Sasuke and his squad had grown more comfortable with the disdain the blonde possessed towards them and began trailing not as far behind as a result. Karin broke the silence to inquire their intended location rather than begin another verbal battle with Suigetsu.

"Hey Uzumaki," she called to his back, "Where we headed?"

"South," he replied simply. He obviously wanted nothing to do with his followers.

"What kind of…!"

"Are you meeting up with more of your comrades?" Juugo interrupted his hotheaded team member.

"Yeah. In fact," Naruto seemed to respond better to the large man's dull sincerity. "We're headed to the country just south of this one."

"Why there?" Hinata became interested.

"Well, bit of a long story…"

"We've got lotsa time."

"If you insist…" He turned to face the Hyuuga by his side. "Not all red-eyes are situated in this country. Actually, they're located all over the continent, but the largest populations are located in this nation and the ones to the north, south, and east."

"Is there a reason for that?"

"Well, sorta." He scratched his head and grinned. "I'm not really too sure myself, but as far as I can tell, it's rooted in history."

The blue haired woman cocked her head. "How so?"

"Each country has a different history of its people, so the red-eyes in each one reflect that past. Each nation has different types of specialist red-eyes. Does that make any sense?"

"Sort of…"

"Okay. The north is well known for its ancient families of demon slayers, so the majority of my comrades there are demon slayers and swordsmen. The country in the east is where Master Sünden resides with the family of his apprentice."

"Which family?"

"The Zersvampirie family. They're vampires."

Everyone stopped for a split second. "What?!"

"Well, yeah… Vampires _do_ exist. All the myths and legends you hear about them are really exaggerated, but they're still pretty powerful. Especially the 'True Bloods'…"

Hinata shook her head. "Alright, what about this country?"

"Ah, this one has the highest concentration of soldier specialists. Most of my comrades here were soldiers before becoming one of us or were trained similarly to the military."

"And what about the south?"

"The southern country is really large. It reaches all the way to the Solan Cape that leads to the ocean. That country has a ton of commerce and goods going through, so my comrades there have a huge mix of abilities they collected from all over the place."

A map flashed in Hinata's mind. If said country reached from this nation to the cape, then it was easily twice the size of Uzi's current 'homeland'. "We're not traveling all the way down, are we?"

"Nah, nah…" he laughed the idea away. "Sheila's coming close to our border to meet us."

"Who?!" Hinata didn't check her unexpected jealousy swiftly enough.

----------------------------

A massive pitch black room sat in perfect silence. The air was stale and cold; sealed off from the outside world. The tranquility of the chamber was suddenly broken by the shuddering arrival of nine figures, or at least images of them.

The man with bizarre eyes containing multiple rings was the first to vocalize his thoughts. "Itachi, Kisame," he addressed the familiar outlines of the rogue ninja. "How is your hunt for Naruto Uzumaki progressing?"

"We've run into some trouble," the fish man explained, "But it shouldn't be a problem. We'll take care of it."

"Itachi," the authoritative phantom commanded, "This is your target. Why haven't you moved against him yet?"

"Uzumaki has proven himself a formidable opponent against any enemy to encounter him. His strength has grown beyond what we have expected and his techniques are… unusual."

"Explain."

Itachi gave a detailed description of his observation of Uzi's performance at Hive City. He also included every possible aspect he noticed that could pertain to the blonde's power as well. At the end of his extensive report, the towering ghost of a leader nodded.

"I see. His powers may have changed, but he is still vital to our plans. Capture him when you have a chance."

The older Uchiha nodded in acknowledgement. As soon as received his unchanged orders, his image blurred away, Kisame following closely behind.

The leader of the infamous Akatsuki organization turned towards the darkness of the room to face two figures that sat in utter silence, per his orders. "If they fail," he spoke without emotion, "You two can take their place. Do you want the positions should they offer themselves?"

One figure began jumping up and down. "Ooh, ooh! Yes, yes! I wanna be in!"

"Calm yourself, Tobi." The haloed eyes shifted their gaze towards the other massive shadow. "And you?"

The phantom made no remark; its form merely dipped slightly as its head nodded.

* * *

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN 

Who could this shadowed figure be?!!! You'll find out in a long time from now.

I've officially decided: I'm going to sequelize (sp?) this story once I finish up the current plotline. So look forward to many awesome (an 'meh') chapters and another story in the future! (Note: I might be talking about the next story now, but make no mistake: this one is still far from over!!)

Uhh... updates, right. Might do one tomorrow, not sure though. Thursday, forget it; Thanksgiving at my uncle and aunt's house. Friday, toss up; staying the night at said house (drinks will be consumed... and I live farther away than I care to risk driving after said drinks). Saturday, might start picking up my normal pace again (which seems to be one a day. Damn...)

Catch ya'll later!


	17. I cannot think of a unique title now!

Woot. One last chapter before I head out tomorrow. I wanted to include more in this one, but since it's 1:30 in the a.m. and I have to get up early to drive to Santa Cruz, I settled for this much. Don't worry though, I'll just import the 'missing' content to the next chapter.

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do, however, own this storyline and all its total kickassness (That is now a new word. I decree it!)

* * *

After two weeks of traveling alongside numerous back roads, the easterners finally reached the border of the two countries. Amazingly, the invisible boundary between the nations was only separated by a flimsy wall. Of course, the point at which they crossed was a blind spot in the security, so their trek into the large commerce country went unimpeded. After another day of trekking through serene rolling grasslands, the group reached a small town.

Apparently, the red-eyes were not persecuted in this country. Hinata learned from the blonde that his comrades in this part of the world were heavily involved in the business-oriented politics of the country and provided top-notch protection for the majority of its interests. Although many normal citizens were understandably wary of the strange-looking people, the red-eyes were regarded with peaceful apathy.

The foreigners reached a decent-sized house that was simply decorated. They entered the establishment and were met by a handful of red-eyes who were dressed in the most detailed, colorful, yet practical clothing the Hyuuga had ever seen in her life. Everyone's attention turned towards a woman with a spiraling metal spear approaching Naruto.

"Uzi!" She called out with an enthusiastic cheer and raised arms. "It's been too long!"

"Hey, Sheila," the blonde responded happily but with less enthusiasm than her. "How's it going?"

"It's goin' great!" Sheila, upon reaching the red-eyed blonde, reached out and promptly planted her lips against his.

Hinata instinctively brought her hand back to wield her pistol, but caught herself before she made a terrible mistake. She lowered her arm and fought a losing battle to control her quickened breathing and raging temper.

Sheila immediately noticed the blue haired woman and approached her with a bright, unwavering smile. "And who might this be?" She inquired with her voice still full of life.

"That's the White Eyes of Death…"

"Hinata Hyuuga," the white-eyed woman interrupted the blonde out of stifled frustration. She managed to force an unpleasant greeting. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh! So you're the one who's been taking care of our Uzi?" The colorfully adorned woman exclaimed. "So good to meet you!" She suddenly surprised Hinata when she leaned in and kissed her on the lips as well. "And who are you guys?" She continued on to the four newcomers and proceeded to greet them in the same fashion.

"_What the hell?!_" Hinata thought.

----------------------------

Everyone was comfortably seated in the back foyer, the non-red-eye easterners still reeling from the shock of being intimately kissed by a total stranger. Karin rubbed the pressure points of her jaw, trying to soothe the pain brought on when Sheila restrained her when she attacked Sasuke's greeter.

"So, how are things up north?" Sheila asked Uzi while reclining on a small couch.

"They're fine, I guess. Everything's going according to plan so far. We should be ready in about a month's time if everything goes well. The only thing I'm concerned about is outside support."

"Ah, it'll be fine even without it. We can take it all on our own."

"Yeah, but if no one else is directly involved, we might just be repeating history."

"They're not gonna challenge anyone powerful enough to take the capital. Hell, I'll bet we'll even be declared heroes when we hand the government back to those who deserve it."

"Uh, excuse me…" Hinata interrupted. Her curiosity was strong enough to overcome her earlier bewilderment and lingering jealousy. "But what plan are you talking about?"

Sheila turned to her and responded in a soothing voice. "We plan to attack the capital of the country up north and forcibly dispose of its current dictator. Once we do that, we'll hand the government back off to the politicians who actually deserve to keep it running."

"So it's a revolution?"

"Yeah, I guess you can call it that," she grinned widely. "But enough about that, let's talk about you! You've been looking for our Uzi for quite some time, haven't you?"

"Wha- how did you know that?"

She pointed to her crimson eyes. "Telepathic, remember? Plus, I'm one of the three apprentices. I got skills!" She sat up in an exaggerated position of strength. Her loud, friendly personality reminded Hinata of Naruto when he was young. "Oh, that reminds me," she turned back towards the blonde red-eye, "You visited Sünden not too long ago. How is he?"

The blonde's demeanor became sullen. "He's doing fine, but… his seal's beginning to weaken. He doesn't have much time left."

For the first time since the travelers met her, Sheila was openly saddened by the news. "Oh… That's… That's too bad…" She tried laughing off her misery, but failed awkwardly. "Well, I guess it was bound to happen eventually. But other than that, he's fine, right?"

"Yeah. He gets some occasional pain from the seal, but it doesn't last long. He seems fairly content."

"Well that's good…" Sheila stared into space with a hopeful smile. "Ah! You guys are probably tired!" She changed the subject. "Your rooms are ready whenever you are!"

"Huh?"

"You guys want to take a break, right? I mean, you're always running from the law up there, so I figured you don't get much sleep in a proper bed." She glanced at Hinata and winked. "So, lemme show you the rooms we got for ya!"

She got up and led the easterners down a hall. On the right was a small bedroom with a double bed, and on the left a room that was hastily cleared out for the unexpected newcomers, containing a few mattresses piled up against the wall.

"Make yourselves at home!" Sheila said as she excused herself. The two groups headed towards their respective rooms.

When Naruto and Hinata saw the single bed, the blonde muttered, "Sheila, you really _are_ evil…" He reclined on the soft mattress and closed his eyes to relax.

"What was up with that kiss?" Hinata questioned him before she could stop herself.

"Oh, yeah." Uzi sat up and looked at his white-eyed companion. "That's a common greeting around here. As you can tell, Sheila's… easily excitable, so affection comes real easy for her, even if it makes for an awkward situation."

"I see," she said, jealousy slightly dieing down with the explanation. "So she didn't really mean anything by it?"

"Nothing beyond 'hi'," his face became apologetic. "Sorry about that. I should have warned you beforehand."

"Don't worry about it," she waved it off with a smile. "Shove over," she said as took the spot next to the blonde.

It was well into the afternoon, but the unfamiliar softness of the mattress commanded sleep in short order. Soon enough, the two weary travelers were lost in their dreams.

----------------------------

Hinata's sleep-induced illusion had taken a turn for the odd. She was standing in some kind of underground bunker that was partially flooded. The pipes high overhead leaked water, and the air was dank with an unpleasant odor. She sloshed through the two inch high water past turnoffs that ended in utter darkness. She finally found a corner in which the dull lights actually illuminated and started down the passageway.

She walked until she approached a pair of massive closed gates with a slip of paper over the entryway. She squinted to read its markings and was taken aback when she recognized that it said 'seal' written in the eastern language.

She jumped back when a pair of red eyes and a massive mouth full of sharp teeth suddenly slammed against the cage. Her heart beat monumentally fast when the demonic face appeared, but then slowed when she realized that whatever was behind that barrier wasn't getting through.

"Who are you?" She called to the disembodied face.

"**I am the nine-tailed fox, little girl…**" replied the deep rumbling voice of the demon.

"Why are you here?"

"**You already know, so why ask?**"

Hinata was slightly puzzled by the tone of its voice. She had imagined that a demon with such power would look down and demean any creature of lesser power. This voice, however, sounded subdued, as if it were tired.

"Why do you sound so tired? You're the nine-tailed fox; full of power and hate! I thought you'd be…"

"**You know the answer to that one as well,**" it interrupted. "**You just don't know it yet…**"

"What do you mean?"

The evil voice gave a low cackle. "**You'll see soon enough, little girl. A word of advice…**" The face turned and began to fade into the all-consuming shadow of its cell. "**When you **_**do **_**see it, don't step into the shadows…**"

"What?" She asked inwardly. "_What could that mean?_"

----------------------------

The Hyuuga awoke from her strange dream to find that the room was darker than before. The sun had set, and it was now in the early hours of the evening. Though she was still tired, she knew it was merely the immediate affects of disembarking from her slumber.

She was more interested by her current position, however, to care about the time of day. Once again, she was in Naruto's arms, but this time it was a bit more… affectionate. During their sleep, both parties unconsciously moved towards the center of the comfy cot and became locked in an unusual embrace. Uzi let loose a light snore mere inches from her face as she felt the blood rise to her head in an attempt to blush. She eventually decided to make the most of her 'predicament' and go back to sleep.

After a few more hours, she exited her peaceful slumber to find that her unique position had not changed, with the exception that her instinctive jolt to consciousness had woken the blonde up as well.

"Eh?" He muttered as his weary eyes opened somewhat. "What? I'm tired…" he complained.

"Sorry," she said as she blushed. "_Again!! Damnit, am I gonna blush forever?!_"

Naruto's eyes started to dip as he drifted back to sleep. "S'kay," he muttered as his trip to dreamland intensified. Before he completely nodded off though, he did something she didn't expect of him.

He leaned his head forward and kissed her.

When his consciousness finally fled, it left behind a pleasantly surprised blue-haired Hyuuga.

"_Wow,_" she thought to herself, "_That was… really nice…_"

* * *

Happy Thanksgiving! Now go stuff yourself and drink lotsa booze!

If any of you guys are traveling, be safe! I don't wanna loose any of my loyal readers!

Seeya!


	18. A baddie gets pwned? Not really!

j0! Man, Thanksgiving rocked! Good memories abound!

Anyways, here's the next chapter. A little short, but I'm still tired and twitchy (guess why...) from last night.

disclaimer (there has to be a better way of doing this): Naruto's not mine, but I now own a small bottle of whiskey.

warning: light swearing. Not much, though.

* * *

The room began to glow with faint light as the sun peaked over the horizon of rolling grasslands. The fog floated peacefully across the scenery as it became scattered and broken by the warmth of daylight. At the first sign of any significant light, Hinata eased from her slumber and was met by a pair of crimson and azure eyes.

"Morning Hinata," Naruto said softly, as loud noise this early in the day would surely be a rude awakening.

She blinked her eyes hard and instantly became awake. "Morning!" She yelped in slight surprise. Uzi only smiled in return as he stared into her eyes. "What's up?" She inquired.

"Nothing!" He replied cheerfully as he released her from his embrace and leapt up from the bed. "Oh, yeah!" He turned to the white-eyed woman. "Some more friends of mine showed up this morning. These guys are real cool! You'll like 'em!"

"Do they greet people the same way as Sheila?" She asked flatly.

He laughed. "Of course not! They're not originally from this country, so they weren't raised on the traditions here."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed to do was shoot an ally out of reflex over a 'simple' greeting.

"Well," the blonde red-eye continued, "Let's go see 'em!"

A minute passed as the couple exited their room and made their way to the foyer. On the way there, Sheila intersected them as she came from another room.

"Ah, morning Uzi!" She immediately kissed him, completing the greeting of Uzumaki for the day. "And you too, Hinata!" She ignored the stiffened Hyuuga as she greeted her as well. "Hope you two slept well! How was the bed?!"

"It was nice," Naruto took the lead. "Thanks for providing it."

"No problem. Was it big enough?"

The pair of easterners looked at each other in mild confusion. "Not really…" Hinata answered, not wanting to offend her host.

"Too small, eh?" Sheila exclaimed. "Did someone fall off at some point?"

"What?" Her eye twitched at the red-eye specialist's implication. "No," she continued with a touch of contempt in her voice, "No one fell off."

"Oh," Sheila responded as if it were a revelation. "So you two took it slow and steady?"

"Shut up already!!" The easterners commanded simultaneously.

"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, the Agran brothers are here. You wanna see 'em?"

Naruto let loose a wide grin. "Hell yeah!"

The trio arrived at the outdoor foyer and was instantly greeted by three men dressed in various military uniforms.

"Uzi!" A man wearing standard woodland camouflage stood up and hugged the blonde.

"Nephil!" Naruto returned the bear hug. These two were obviously close friends. "Good to see you again!" He turned towards the other two goggled men. "And Bastan and Geist are here too! I haven't seen all three of you at once in years!"

"Good to see you again old buddy," the largest of the three men meekly greeted.

"It has been a while," the man with spiky red hair responded quietly.

"Who's this?" Nephil turned his attention towards the only non-red-eye present.

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga."

"Ah, the White Eyes of Death," the big guy added into the conversation. "We've heard lots of stories about you. You're rather famous amongst us red-eyes."

The woman smiled at the compliment. "Thanks… uh…"

"Oh, sorry! I'm Bastan Agran, the oldest brother." He gestured towards the seated redhead. "This is Geist, the youngest…"

"And I'm Nephil," the friendly red-eye bowed cordially, "The middle brother of the three. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

----------------------------

Hinata spent the last two hours conversing with the Agran brothers and Naruto. She learned that it was the trio who were the first red-eyes to contact and convert Uzi to their cause, so their friendship was particularly strong. She had also learned about each brother's specialty.

Nephil, upon closer inspection, had cross hairs for irises in his orange pupils. This mutation was akin to a bloodline, much like the Byakugan, and allowed him to see straight across massive distances and target anything with perfect accuracy. He had developed his energy usage to amplify his senses at all times to aid with his soldiery, however this left him at a disadvantage to genjutsu, or 'illusions' as they were called in the west.

Bastan was half blind. He kept thick industrial goggles over his heat-scarred eyes, not only to hide the nastiness of the gunk produced by his tear ducts, but also to improve his poor vision to the point of normalcy, as the goggles had several levels of magnification. He had strange looking glyphs tattooed on the palms of his hands that he used to create explosives out of the blue. How he did this, though, was beyond Hinata.

The quietest of the three, Geist, was the most mysterious of them all. His skills were in stealth, as he used a combination of natural camouflage and techniques to slip by unnoticed in any situation, even during heavy combat. The brothers also alluded towards a hidden power only released in times of extreme danger, although none of them ever went into detail.

All in all, they were an odd bunch that was extremely friendly. They tried to incorporate Hinata into their conversations with Naruto as much as they could, although some stories just had to be experienced firsthand to really understand. After quite some time of catching up, they finally started discussing their plans for the revolution.

"You know," Nephil led the conversation, "There's a good running for us in this country. We could get a ton of support if we play our cards right."

"How so?" Naruto inquired.

"We have our hands in the security of this country's economy," Bastan continued in place of his brother. "We provide lotsa protection for relatively low prices. This keeps a lot of traders loyal to our forces here. I personally know a few of the higher up merchants, and if I pull some strings, we could secure supply lines without having to worry about tying up our forces too much."

"That rocks, but why would normal tradesmen want to help us out?"

"Oh, believe us," Nephil responded as evil smiles worked their way on his and Bastan's faces, "We have our ways. All you have to worry about is rallying your troops."

"We're being watched," Geist suddenly interrupted.

The Hyuuga woman began to activate her bloodline, but was stopped by a smiling Nephil.

"Don't do anything," he said. "Don't change you attitude or tone of voice. At best, the spy can't hear us yet, so we have to appear as if nothing's wrong." His point was driven home by the fact that everyone else's faces appeared to show that they were unaware of the intruder. "Where's the spy, Geist?"

"About thirty meters away directly behind me."

Hinata blinked and realized that someone was missing. "Hey, where'd Sheila go?"

She was answered with a gush of wind as Sheila reappeared with a man in a black cloak in tow. She flung the bound man onto the ground and held her fancy metal spear against his neck. Everyone else immediately wielded their respective weaponry against the stranger.

"Who are you?!" Sheila demanded, cheeriness banished from her usually chipper tone.

The man said nothing as he stared at no one with those intricate eyes of his.

"Talk!!" Bastan yelled as he thrust his previously hidden shotgun into the man's face. "Who are you and who sent you?!"

"What's with all the commotion?" Karin walked onto the foyer, curious about all the sudden noise. "What's going… holy shit!!"

"You know this guy, Karin?" The Hyuuga asked.

"That's- that's Itachi Uchiha!!"

"Where?!" Sasuke suddenly appeared at the door at the mention of the rogue ninja's name. "He's here?!"

Naruto didn't even bother to answer the avenger's question as he pulled the trigger of his Uzi and sent a single round into the man's head. He didn't even flinch as the corpse disappeared in a puff of smoke. On the other hand, all the other red-eyes were surprised at this.

"What the hell?" Nephil said out of confusion. "What was that?"

"Oh," Karin breathed a sigh of relief. "It was just a shadow clone…"

"A what?"

"Shadow clone," Karin began as she explained the basic mechanics of the technique to the western specialist. She soon became annoyed with his shock over the existence of such a move and left.

----------------------------

Meanwhile, Itachi stood before a man who sat on a large throne hidden in the dim light of the massive room. The chamber was spared no expense, as it was built with the finest marble and precious stones and adorned with numerous valuables and other fancy, expensive things that looked cool.

The man opened his eyes as his clone popped out of existence and sent its information back to him. "It appears that Uzi is on the move with all of his friends."

The phantom atop the throne looked down slightly on the foreigner. "So he's moving with all the red-eyes?"

"It appears so."

"Did he say when?"

"No, but it sounds as if it will be soon."

The figure thought as he stroked his chin. "I see, very well. What are the terms of your… temporary allegiance?"

"I only wish to capture Uzi."

"For the reward?"

"No. I have my own reasons."

The figure delivered a nasty cackle. "Ha! You sick bastard, you! Very well, I accept your terms, but you better hold up your end of the bargain!"

The rogue Uchiha nodded and raised his hands to form a seal. Upon contact, his body puffed out of existence, leaving behind the so called tyrant ruler.

"You hear any of that, Lorsvall?" The man's gruff voice called.

A lone figure stepped out from behind a pillar of the extensive hall. "Yes, sir. I believe I have the perfect man for the job." The smug man's lips parted in a malicious grin.

* * *

Even I'm starting to miss the action, so I'm bringing in the main baddies to spice things up! Might do a chapter tomorrow, depending on if I get my illustration project done earlier than anticipated (unlikely).

On another note, did any of you guys know that Karin's shorts actually exist? Not as clothing sold under the Naruto franchise, but short shorts that are loose enough to have an inch of legging but tight enough to show off fine ass. Yeah, they exist, and I say this because my cousin wore a pair last night at the party. And since I have an active and healthy 'Y' chromosome, so I can say it's fairly... hot... especially on a fine body (she really takes care of herself). Don't worry though, I'm no hick. Still... never knew they existed. Just thought you'd like to know.


	19. Ripoff His Head

It's a two chapter day! I was too excited to wait to introduce a main enemy, so I wrote this real quickly to get some action going.

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other big name series (you'll know why I didn't name names when you read on)

WARNING: VERY VERY COLORFUL LANGUAGE HERE (especially at the end.)

* * *

The easterners had left the merchant country several days ago and were currently en route to their next destination: the vampire households to the east. They planned to hit up red-eye outposts for rest on the way, seeing as how the crimson-eyed rebels were becoming better entrenched these days. They were about to pass through a town with a friendly safe house when a speeding motorbike passed them and suddenly slowed while turning to face them.

"Uzi!" The rider called as he whipped off his helmet. "So glad I found you!"

"You look familiar…" The blonde red-eye started.

"Trench!" Hinata was surprised to see the soldier again.

"White Eyes of Death! I see you found him!" He turned to her and smiled before addressing Naruto again. "Listen; there's been a string of attacks lately on a bunch of our outposts and safe houses!"

The blonde red-eye and his Hyuuga companion suddenly stiffened and became alert. "Who's responsible?" He asked.

"That's the thing," Trench had a look of fright on his face. "We haven't the slightest idea. We think he might be from the capital, but…"

"Shit! Really?!" The blonde red-eye tensed even further. "Where is he now?!"

"We don't know. We honestly don't know." He moved to place his helmet back on his head. "But I had to get this news to you. We're all going into hiding as of now. It'll set us back, but at least we'll be alive in the end."

"I'll take the bastard down…" Uzi was rather melancholic about the situation. His promise was noted and met with a nod as the red-eyed soldier started up his bike again and rode back the way he came.

The Hyuuga looked worriedly at Uzi. His fists were clenched so tight that his fingernails were drawing blood. "Naruto," she said as soothingly as possible, "Don't worry. We'll be okay…"

"It's not that," he replied calmly. She knew this was a bad sign. "This asshole is killing my friends and comrades. He will _die_!! I swear it!!"

The group continued in silence towards the town and was shocked upon their arrival. The safe house, along with the entire town, was in utter ruin. Bodies of red-eyes and normal civilians alike were strewn across the rubble as if a tornado had thrown them against the hard earth. Some of the fires hadn't even died yet, their whispy smoke wafting apathetically in the air.

But what really got their attention wasn't who was dead; rather, it was who was still alive. Sitting on top of a stack of corpses was a middle-aged man with shortly trimmed wild red hair and dull blue eyes. He had a scar running over his right eye to his chin and was donned in clothing similar to that of a priest. He never looked up at the easterners from a book bound in solid iron plating sitting in his lap. He held the text closely, scribbling something into it. Behind him was a cross made of metal containers that had been welded together to form their unique shape.

"So you are the heathen Uzi," the man finally spoke in a thick accent akin to the native peoples of the highlands.

"Yeah," Naruto was deadly calm. "Who're you?"

"My name is irrelevant in this mortal life, but I am commonly known as the Priest."

"Did you do all this, Priest?"

The man finally tore his gaze away from the ironclad book and regarded the crimson-eyed blonde with a small grin. "Yes."

Naruto disappeared from Hinata's side. She realized he was on the attack and activated her bloodline just in time to see a chakra tail appear and impale the priest in the neck. The man's disturbing grin never faded, even in death.

Naruto gave an unhappy grunt and turned to leave the devastated town. As the group followed, Hinata noted that all the bodies were actually nailed to the partially standing buildings and burnt ground with six-inch long needles that each had a small steel marble in the center. She turned on her Byakugan to examine the marbles and was alarmed when she saw a chakra signature charging towards them.

"Shit! Behind us!" She pulled out her pistol and let loose a round against… the priest? "He's not dead?!"

"He will be!" Suigetsu grabbed his massive sword from its holster and prepared to bring it down onto the charging madman. The sword, however, didn't make its way past his head as he was suddenly sliced into two watery pieces by a heavy cutlass.

"And all sinners shall face divine judgment!" Priest called out as he temporarily took down the swordsman. He continued his bum rush without missing a beat and moved his head to the right, making Hinata's bullet blow through his cheek rather than his skull.

Naruto pulled his Uzi from his side and began firing at the crazed enemy. When the man started dodging too much for accurate fire, the blonde red-eye put his left hand over his gun and inserted a needle that had been affixed to the side of the weapon into the implant in his wrist. He began pumping energy into his bullets, which caused them to fly faster, straighter, and farther. The energy surrounding the loosed ammo had a partial affect against the redheaded specialist, as the spinning chakra surrounding the bullets tore off small chunks of flesh and cloth as they whizzed by.

"You will never escape eternal punishment, Uzi!" Priest taunted him. His smile had grown maniacal and he began to laugh equally as malignantly. "Reflect on your sins in the pit of flames!"

Uzi became enraged at the madman's insults and threw his gun to the ground and leapt to meet the redheaded priest face to face. As soon as he did so, the Hyuuga noticed something was wrong.

"Naruto!" She called as she ran to try and flank the sword-wielding priest. "His chakra's changing! He's gonna try something else!"

"Smart little girl!" Priest exclaimed as he brought his curved, thick sword to bear. Naruto grabbed the sword with his left hand which was charged with enough energy to hold the blade in place without the need for physical contact. His right arm was pulsing with energy that slowly began to form some kind of blade. Just as he was about to thrust the energy into the man, the priest countered him by lightly throwing a handful of needles that spun their way into Uzi's chest.

"Naruto!" Hinata called as he winced in pain and jumped backwards. She saw the needles still spinning into his body, somehow aided by the marbles. The chakra on the marbles suddenly spiked. "Get those out of you!" She yelled as she yanked them out of him and tossed them away before they exploded in small bursts.

"That chakra's not his!" Karin called from behind a wall. "It's technology based!"

The easterners who stood their ground saw that the gaping hole in the man's cheek was beginning close as muscle and fiber tissue started growing and reconnecting. It was gruesome yet effective.

"So I have more heathens to lead towards the light?" The regenerating priest asked no one as he stared down Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke. "And what about the cowards who run from the truth?" He eyed the various hiding places of Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo. "Shall they not suffer divine punishment as well?"

"You'll fight us," Sasuke proclaimed calmly. "And you shall die today."

The madman broke into a fit of insane laughter. As the tears of joy died from his eyes and he came up for breath, he said, "Boy, I have died several times over in the last few moments! Yet the light of truth has brought me back each time to complete my task upon this earth!"

"Killing people?" Hinata added her thoughts.

"Nay, girl, punishment for all heathens and salvation for all believers!"

"Well, your religion's fucked up," Naruto grunted as the miniscule holes in his chest healed easily from the fox's energy. "You're gonna meet your maker today."

The priest's smile reduced itself to a grin as he pulled on some wires and his metal cross flew towards him. He intercepted the heavy metal object in midair and firmly planted it into the ground next to him. "Well then, heathen, let us do battle on holy ground."

The three easterners broke off and charged the stationary mad priest from three separate directions. "And let this battle be blessed," the man muttered with a grin before the trio reached him.

* * *

Now let me take a quick moment to say something before you freak out: Priest is based on another character from another series who is equally as insane (and even more awesome!). Also, I never said what "religion" Priest belongs to, you'll find out later (seriously, it ties in with other things). If you're still offended by the guy, I apologize. If it's any consolation, I am religious as well, so I'm treading lightly here myself.

On a less serious note, who can tell me which character Priest is based off of and what other manga (well, and anime too, I guess) series he comes from? The first person to correctly get this will get the chance to grant him a special power in addition to his current arsenal (as long as that power is reasonable, or I'll just make you come up with another one). If you get the answer right, I'll send you a reply telling you you're right and asking what you think his new power should be.


	20. Prepare to Hate Someone!

j0! A slightly longer chapter this time (but certainly not the longest).

I guarantee some of you will truly hate me after reading. Well go ahead, read on to find out why!

disclaimer (as always): I don't own Naruto or his franchise, but I should...

Warning: Language warning (also as always)

* * *

All three easterners struck the mad priest simultaneously and were shocked when he blocked each attack. Hinata swung an aging rusted kunai against his left shoulder and was blocked by his thick saber. Sasuke thrust his sword at him from the right, only to have it successfully trapped between the bones of the man's forearm. Naruto had moved behind the madman and was about to strike him with his energy-laden left hand, but instead drove his palm harmlessly against the metal cross that had been moved in his way by the unholy man's left leg.

Priest wasted no time to retaliate. He wrenched the Uchiha's sword from his hands by swinging his arm back and thrust his cutlass towards him while keeping the Hyuuga's knife at bay and kicking the cross backwards towards Uzi with unexpected force. The trio leapt back immediately, narrowly avoiding the multiple counterstrikes. Their insane opponent's grin never left his face as he stuck his sword into the ground and yanked the narrow blade from his right arm and let it clash against the ground.

Suigetsu took this unguarded moment to avenge his earlier humiliation. He charged from behind, massive sword at the ready. He was about to swing when his enemy turned and let loose a barrage of spinning marbled needles. The foreign swordsman couldn't dodge in time with his heavy blade at that distance and took most of the needles head on. Of course, the affected areas burst into water, leaving him relatively unharmed. He confidently continued forward under slowed momentum but was halted when the priest pulled on the wires still attached to his tiny projectiles, causing them to ripple and tear the liquid man to a water mess.

"And so a heathen who was once humbled hath been humbled again," the priest spouted. "May you see the error in your ways and the light of truth shine upon you!" No sooner had he finished his sentence than a thirteen millimeter bullet went through his head, killing him temporarily.

"Seems like he pays less attention during his sermons," Hinata said to Uzi from their wall. "Hit him when he's talking."

"Got it. Uchiha!" Uzi yelled to Sasuke who was charging towards the twitching opponent with a fistful of lightning. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The Sharingan user struck the moving priest in the chest, ceasing his small movements before retrieving his dropped weapon and retreating to another position. "Just getting my sword back!" He answered when he was in the clear. "Suigetsu! You alive?!"

"Yeah, yeah!" He answered while reforming, annoyed as could be.

"Stick your sword in him now!"

"My legs aren't back yet!"

"Then throw it…"

"Sasuke!" Karin called from behind her cover. "He's up again!"

"Damn," Naruto cursed. "That was fast."

Hinata's Byakugan saw that the chakra around the priest intensified every time he was killed and remained in that heightened state until he came alive again. She wondered what the cause could be and decided to analyze the situation. "Naruto," she addressed the nearby blonde. "You go on ahead, I'll figure out what makes him tick."

The man regarded her with crimson and azure eyes for a second before nodding. "Got it."

The Hyuuga snapped to attention. "He's up again! Go!"

Uzi dove from his position, energy charging in both arms. The priest regarded him with a maniacal smile as he came closer.

--------------------------

For the past hour, the easterners had made repeated attempts to kill the regenerating priest. Had he been a normal man, he would have died dozens of times over by now. But he was certainly no ordinary man.

During the battle, Hinata and Karin agreed to attempt to decipher the man's source of power, but to no avail. There was no sign of the technology based chakra's source to be seen, or rather, it was so foreign to their methods of identifying chakra that they simply didn't notice it.

The group had gradually moved throughout the town as they systematically leveled the already devastated ruins. The Hyuuga was hiding behind a makeshift trench of dirt, rock, and concrete when Uzi rejoined her.

"Damnit! There's just no way to take him down!"

The white-eyed woman said nothing as she continued to concentrate on the immortal madman.

"Any news at all?" The blonde red-eye was openly frustrated.

"Nothing. I've got absolutely nothing." Even she was beginning to loose patience.

"Alright," he sighed as he began to head out again, "I'm goin' back in. Lemme know if anything happens!" He stood on top of the rubble barricade and charged the lengthened tattoos on his right arm. When the stored energy reached suitable levels, he jerked his arm and it spiraled around his hand like a whip. He had slowly been discovering this new ability during the course of the battle. He threw the sparkling red end of the crimson colored energy at the priest and nailed him right in the ribcage before pulling back and throwing himself back into the fight.

The Uchiha saw this and moved into position to strike Priest from the same side Uzi was flying in from. He used his Sharingan to perfectly time a powerful strike against the man's legs as Naruto slammed into the madman's body, sending the not-so-holy man airborne against a wall. The blonde red-eye instantly followed up by forming three tails and sending them forward, soundly impaling the undying opponent on the wall in a bloody mess.

As the tails retracted, Hinata observed the immediate healing process of the man's body. "_Wait a minute…_" she thought as she watched the chakra circulating. "_It's not as fast as before!_" She refocused her attention to the rest of her vision and noticed a large blob of similar chakra. "_That's his cross!_" Her sharp mind finally connected the dots.

"Everyone!" She stood up and addressed the rest of the easterners. "I figured it out!"

"What?!" A relieved call came from the exhausted group.

"What is it, Hinata?" Naruto asked with a cheerful curiousness in his voice.

"It's that cross," she pointed to the object standing in the ground. "It's releasing most of the chakra that help him regenerate!"

"But… he's coming back to life right now, isn't he?"

"That's residual. His body must not be able to carry too much of it, so it's slower."

"But whenever we've killed him he came back to life within seconds," Sasuke added.

"But," Hinata's eyes brightened to show her excitement at her revelation, "He's always been right beside it."

Everyone thought for a moment. Now that they recalled all the times he died, he really _had_been next to the metal object.

"So all we need to do is destroy it?" Naruto asked while starting towards the freestanding energy provider.

"Well, that'll only make it harder for him to regenerate, so we'll still have to kill him somehow…"

"Quite a smart lass, aren't you?" She was interrupted by the standing bloody mass of reforming bone and muscle that was Priest. "But the divine light of truth lives within me regardless of the creations of man." His arm reformed and shot out wires that caught his cross and pulled it back before anyone could get a hold of it. Hinata's epiphany was proven true as his wounds suddenly closed faster than before. "However, the instruments of men can also be a blessing to those whose work is holy," he said with his trademark grin as he hefted the machine over his shoulder and the compartment on the long side opened, revealing uncountable thousands of marbled needles attached to coils upon coils of wire. "And all sinners must be judged accordingly!" He wielded the machine like a rocket launcher towards the easterners.

"Shit!" Naruto yelled. "Take cover!" Everyone complied as swiftly as they could.

Priest fired the multitude of whistling needles into every surface in front of him. He immediately handled dozens of wires between each gap in his fingers and waited for anyone to make a move.

"Shit," Naruto whispered to Hinata, hoping the mad clergyman didn't know his location. "What'll we do now?"

"Lemme think…"

"And so all the rats go into hiding?!" The madman taunted. "What of your pride, heathens?! Before you saw the light, you went against it with all your being, but now that you have witnessed the truth, you have fallen to your knees in fear of it!"

Hinata remembered the chakra difference whenever Priest activated the needles to spin or explode. She leaned in closer to Naruto and whispered, "I'm going to create a diversion while you hit him head on."

"Head on?" He looked at her as if she just said the world was flat. "You're kidding, right?"

She smiled. "Just trust me." She began forming chakra in her fingers, slowly matching the pattern and combination that she had seen Priest use. Once she thought she had it, she touched her fingers on their stone barricade and sent her chakra through to the needles, causing the marbles to explode in small tufts of fire that produced more smoke than damage. "Now!" She whispered harshly.

Naruto leapt out from behind the leveled wall into the cover of smoke. He was careful to avoid hitting any wires to avoid detection by the madman even though it was impossible not to step on all of them or hold all of them as well. He saw Hinata circling around, setting off more of the marbles. He turned his attention towards the mad 'holy' man and called forth four tails. He struck the ground with them when he saw Sasuke picking up on the diversion portion of the plan by sending a long crackling blade of lightning towards Priest. The tails hit the ground at an angle and sent the blonde red-eye flying out of the smokescreen towards his immortal opponent.

"Like a pagan phoenix from the flames!" The man exclaimed. "But an inexperienced one as well," he added calmly as his left arm jerked back.

Uzi's descent was suddenly halted as hundreds of hair thin metal wires shot up from the ground and strung him into place. He could easily break them, but he was too shocked that such a thing had just happened to react instantly.

"You shall see the error of your ways, young sinner," Priest said with a smile.

Hinata appeared from the dying smoke behind the man's cross and prepared to strike him in the head with a fistful of lethal chakra. She saw him move his right arm, heavy cutlass in hand, to intercept her, but his metal cross was in the way. She smirked as her hand moved past the impromptu metal shield and barely noticed a new shift in chakra. That change registered in her mind the instant before her arm stopped and she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She looked down, her vision blurring, to see Priest's hand sticking out of the back of the cross, holding his sword which was now buried in her chest.

"Hinata!" Naruto screamed as he saw the blue-haired woman fall to the ground, sword still impaled through her heart. He ripped his right arm free of the entangling metal web and swung his energy whip at the retreating priest.

Upon stabbing the white-eyed woman, the unholy man caught his cross up as he leapt backwards to put some distance between him and the enraged red-eye. He had retreated a few meters before a burning red rope of energy wrapped tightly around his neck and, with a mighty backlash, ripped his head from his body. The momentum carried his corpse a good twenty meters while his heavier cross crashed to ground only several meters from his opponents. As usual, his body began to build itself again, but was too far from the life-giving metal cross to benefit from its healing powers.

Naruto didn't follow through on his attack, though. He pulled himself down from his flimsy prison and dashed to Hinata's side. Through the tears, he pulled the sword from her chest and hugged her body close to his.

"I'm sorry," he whispered quietly into an unhearing ear. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

(Maniacal laughter) So do you hate me now?! Well do ya?! Hahahah...

Sadly, I saved all my work for today and tomorrow, so I wouldn't expect to see a resolution until... Monday at the earliest. One of the comments I recieved from one of you readers out there read, and I quote, "You're evil. Don't ever change." I'm just following his command. Haha!

Ah, yes. One last thing: Priest's ability to pass through solid objects (albeit temporarily) is the special power suggested by Zephiras. He was the first to get Priest's reference correct (Father Anderson from Hellsing), and so he gained the right to give Priest that power. It'll show up a little more now. Thanks a bunch, Zephiras! I would'a never thought of it myself.


	21. Rob Zombie! Because he is up in itunes!

Well, I decided to screw myself over and hold off my work until tomorrow (it's due Tues.). So here's another chapter. Also, apparently the general consensus is that I'm evil. Let's test that out, shall we?

As usual, I don't own Naruto. Pity.

Warning: swearing at the end.

* * *

While Naruto held Hinata's lifeless body, Sasuke and his squad took note of his sadness. It was obvious to anyone who met the two runaways that they shared a close bond, and sometimes silence was the best form of condolences. Now was one of those times.

"Karin, Suigetsu," The Uchiha commanded, "Move that cross away from Priest. We'll hit him while his regeneration is slowed."

"Right," they responded. Each grabbed an end and hauled the heavy machine to Naruto's position.

Sasuke and Juugo were preparing to strike their undying enemy, who, despite having only half a head now, was rising to his feet. "_Interesting,_" he avenger thought. "_He's clearly dead, but he's making advanced movements already. I wonder…_" He looked back at the chakra emanating from the cross and focused his attention to a specific portion. "_This is…_" His Sharingan eyes widened.

"You…" Naruto set the Hyuuga's body down gently. "Will die." His voice was calm and his eyes were glazed over as he stood. He reached back and unclipped a hypodermic needle containing the Agende Vhansin's drug from the back of his belt then stabbed it into the circular implant in his left wrist. He injected the entire drug, far more than the suggested 'trial run', and threw the empty tube to the wind. His dull eyes began to burn with incredible ferocity and his stance lowered as his higher brain functions began temporarily closing off.

"**Boy,**" echoed the fox's voice in his mind, "**What are you doing?**"

"Kiiiiilllllll…" came a prolonged raspy reply. The memory portion of his brain strained to recall that one simple word.

"**This isn't normal for you…**" the fox said inwardly. "**You are destroying your own mind, and for what? That girl?**"

Naruto gave a distorted high pitched grunt. The fox understood that to mean 'yes'.

"**Very well. I should start fixing your mind… this poison the cannibals gave you could do permanent damage if left unchecked…**" The presence of the fox disappeared into the warping shadows of his cell.

Outwardly, the blonde red-eye's appearance changed drastically. He was now on all fours, tattoos leaking energy like burst dams. All nine tails formed and one immediately struck itself into the back of his head, which induced a surprised- if one could call it that- look on his face before he returned to his animalistic growling. Everyone present backed off. They knew the blonde wasn't aiming for them but knew it wouldn't bode well if they were in the way.

After the strange energy worked its magic, Priest's head finally reformed itself and instantly gave its trademark maniacal smile. "And so the heathen reveals himself as the demon he is!" He exclaimed, gripping more of his specialized needles from his tattered coat. "Come, beast!"

Naruto complied with a guttural shriek and charged on all fours, tails and tattoos alike burning the air and singing everything that came into contact. As soon as he came within striking distance, his tails shot forward to impale the priest…

And missed. The mad holy man's energy shifted at the last second and he leapt through a nearby wall that would have otherwise blocked his escape. When he exited the other side, he sent his energy to a handful of needles and threw them back through the wall and right into the enraged Uzumaki's body.

Uzi paid the needles no mind as they spun into his skin and exploded. The fox's energy level was elevated so high at this point that it completely healed the gaping wounds in seconds. He turned towards the wall and, lurching himself onto his legs, struck the air with his left hand. The tattoos released the familiar chaos of slicing energy that cut right through the wall and continued onward. Priest, however, had enough time to move before the sharpened air could reach him.

As the unholy man ran to retrieve his cross, Naruto stood his ground. The blonde berserker raised his right arm and threw it at the immortal, sending a whip like string of burning energy at the man. It caught the madman's left arm and started to pull him back. The priest responded by pulling a small knife from his coat and promptly removed his arm beneath the elbow in one swing. Still laughing, he phased through a building that still had all four walls standing.

Naruto gave another enraged howl and struck the earth with his remaining eight tails, sending him flying forward. He put his left hand on his right arm and ran it down the tattooed limb. The body art crackled as he pulled his hand back, releasing one shorter whip for every slash-mark tattoo. He thrust his left arm forward and caught multiple surfaces with the whips and pulled back. His velocity suddenly increased as he flew towards the building and demolished it as he passed through. Of course, the priest was long gone from the flimsy stone structure and trying to find a way around the effective defense that Sasuke and company formed around his cross.

As Naruto intercepted Priest and began the lethal cat and mouse game throughout the ruined town, Sasuke addressed his team. "Listen," he said coldly without removing his bloodline eyes from the fight around them, "I took a closer look at the chakra this thing produces."

"What did you find?" The ever-quiet Juugo asked.

"It's not just chakra."

"What?" Karin muttered.

"The chakra is produced by billions of tiny machines."

"Machines?" Suigetsu added his two cents. "I don't see any machines."

The Uchiha sighed. "They can only be seen on the cellular level. They produce chakra as some kind of energy source and rebuild the priest's body themselves."

"But whenever he's away from the thing, he still regenerates." Juugo pointed out.

"Proximity to the cross must allow some of the machines to enter his body. He probably can't hold too many without suffering from them. That's why his regeneration is slower when he's farther away."

"How did you figure all that out?" Suigetsu asked, slightly annoyed at his 'leader's' intelligence.

"When his head was removed, it grew back. His body started moving before it was fully complete, though. He was dead but moving, so the only way that can happen is if the molecular devices are active inside his body."

"Yeah," Karin commented, "But that still doesn't tell us how to kill this bastard."

"If we completely destroy his body, the machines will have nothing left to rebuild and will 'die' off."

Karin was about to respond about how useful such technology could be in their hands when she glanced at Hinata's corpse. She noticed that the gaping hole in her body didn't look as large as when she first looked over her. "_Must not have been paying close attention at the time,_" she thought.

----------------------------

"What's the matter, heathen?" Priest taunted. "Does the light of truth blind you from your path of destruction?" He ducked to avoid a tail plowing through a concrete pillar.

Naruto only regarded the man with enraged eyes and a murderous mindset. He had killed the man many times by this point, but each and every time the mad holy man came together and rose up to fight. He could feel the sanity coming back to his mind as his demonic tenant attempted to purge the drug from his system.

"You killed her!" He shrieked in his raspy voice. Speech was slowly coming back to him as coherency flooded the closed off portions of his brain. "Now death!" Obviously, words weren't totally fluent yet.

For the first time since their encounter, the smile on Priest's face died. "Very well, then." He said with a serious tone. "It seems your eyes are lost to the darkness." He reached behind him for his metal-bound book held up by his belt. He opened it and started writing something in its pages. "All that's left for you is eternal slumber in the shadows," he said in his thick highlander accent.

Naruto launched himself forward with his tails and prepared to strike the unholy man with his energy-laden palm. He was forced to cut his attack short by a barrage of explosive needles, wincing as one sliver of a projectile grazed him in a sensitive area. He hit the ground running, repositioning his tails in front of him as a shield. The mad priest didn't even look his way as he retracted the single bloody needle with a wire and stabbed it into his book.

Uzi instantly felt a sharp pain course throughout his body. He instinctively fell to his knees in agony. The stinging pain flowed into every corner of his body without any sign of subsiding. In fact, it was getting worse.

"And so now," Priest set the book down on a pile of rubble, needle still protruding from its pages. "The heathen will realize too late the error of his ways." He raised his small knife to strike the kneeling red-eye.

"_What are you doing, fox?!_" Uzi screamed inwardly at his tenant. "_Help me out here!!_"

"**I can't move either!!**" The fox yelled back. "**The priest has me in a binding of pain as well!!**" The demon animal roared in pain.

"_So this is it, eh?_" Naruto thought as he closed his eyes. "_Well, at least I can see…_"

A gunshot interrupted his thoughts. He opened his crimson and blue eyes to see the priest's knife hand torn to bloody bits. The regenerating holy man and eastern specialist both turned to find the bullet's owner.

"Y'know," a winded voice yelled from atop a pile of rubble, "That really fucking hurt!!"

Naruto's eyes widened. Was this a hallucination? Was he already dead and seeing what he wanted to see?

The priest's grin returned to his face. "So I see the lass has also seen the light!"

"Damn right," Hinata said, hand clutching her recently healed mortal wound. "And it wants you back."

* * *

Such a cheesy line, eh? Oh, well.

I actually wanted to keep Hinata dead for a while, but ran out of ideas to keep things going(pathetic, eh?). So, out of desperation, she's back.

Am I still 3\/1L?


	22. Foxy Foxy What's it Gonna Be?

W00t. Slightly longer chapter with mysteriously vague plot points. Worry not, though, it will all make sense in the end! It'll make sense even sooner if you're good at analyzing plot points.

Anyways, I started this yesterday but didn't finish due to homework. Go figure. (On a side note, my assignment had pros and cons: con: I had the worst skin tones in the class. pro: I had the best clothing folds in the class. That about evens things out!)

I don't own Naruto. More's the pity.

* * *

Nartuo couldn't believe his eyes. At that moment the intense pain coursing through his veins had no meaning as the sight of a living, breathing Hinata commanded his vision. As soon as the shock of it all wore off though, the invisible torment in his body recaptured his attention.

"Hinata!" He fought the pain. "Get that needle outta that book!"

The Hyuuga said nothing as she swung her arm around and fired a single round, flipping the ironclad book into the wind as the bullet struck the needle from its foundation.

Uzi immediately shot forward to confront Priest. Unfortunately, the mad holy man had the foresight to leap backwards as soon as the white-eyed woman swung her arm towards his scripture of death. He applied his chakra to the microscopic devices within his body and passed harmlessly through a wall. The red-eyed easterner, however, did not allow a mere stone barricade to stop him. He thrust his left arm forward, striking the grainy surface and shattering it with a muted barrage of slicing energy before pushing through the airborne debris. He struck his remaining tails into the ground to throw himself forward while forming another energy whip on his right arm. As soon as his velocity picked up, he tossed the whip into the wind towards the madman.

The priest laughed when the whip phased through him without as much as a scratch. The man quickly moved out of the way of the ropelike energy and pulled forth another small knife, preparing to jam it into the skull of the red-eyed specialist. Naruto waved his left hand towards the ground, sending out more energy and subsequently throwing himself higher into the air and out of the way of the unholy man's blade. Priest took this moment to grasp more needles and hurl them towards the air bound blonde.

Uzi swept his tails under him in like a broom and knocked the needles and the immortal aside. The man skidded to a halt and his perpetual grin once again wiped itself from his face.

"Looks like I'll have to actually use it this time…" He lifted his arm and threw out some wires to retrieve his book. As soon as it was reeled back into his hands he began furiously writing in it. When Naruto finally hit the ground, the priest glared at him as he charged. His hand stopped writing and he raised it in the air to bring it down onto the scribbled page. "Behold!" He announced. "The true power of…"

His eyes suddenly rolled back in his head and he slumped to the ground, revealing Hinata standing behind him with her fingers outstretched.

"Got 'im," she said softly.

"Eat it!" Naruto pounced on the regenerating corpse, impaling it with his dwindling eight tails. The red-eye then lifted the priest into the air with the appendages and placed his tattooed hand against the mass of tails. He discharged his energy into the protruding stems of chakra and the madman's body was ripped to shreds. When he seemed satisfied at his actions, the tails burned away and he approached the panting Hyuuga.

"I missed you," he said quietly as he embraced her.

"Yeah," she returned the affectionate gesture. "Me too."

"Hey, Uzumaki!" Sasuke called from the distance, interrupting the moment. "We still have yet to kill the priest."

Uzi looked at him with tired eyes. He was exhausted from the fight, having gone through physical, mental, psychological, and even biological trauma via the overdose on the Agende Vhansin drug. "_This stuff really makes me loose concentration,_" he commented inwardly. "_Keeps me from using my energy to its full potential…_"

"Yeah," Karin trailed after the Uchiha. "We have to destroy every last bit of him or he'll just regenerate again!"

"Can you guys do it? I'm tired…" He complained playfully.

"Fine," the Sharingan user replied dejectedly. He began by immediately spotting a portion of flesh and engulfing it with a ball of flame from his lips.

"Damn…" Naruto said, eyes wide with amazement. "I gotta learn how to do that…" He slumped to the ground, Hinata in tow.

"So," she began, "Where to next?"

He sighed. "Still going east to see the vampires." He looked over and spotted the iron book of the unholy priest. Curiosity got the better of him and he grabbed it and began flipping through the pages.

Every word was scribbled in red ink and a symbol was scrawled in the center of every page; a hollow circle with a triangle inside.

"What's in it?" Hinata inquired, head leaning on the blonde's shoulder.

"Dunno," he responded as he read the repeating words on every page. "Who the hell's this 'Jashin' guy?"

-----------------------------------

After another three hours, the eastern travelers were on the road again. It took them a solid two hours to locate and decimate the shredded pieces of slowly regenerating flesh, and another hour to wait and be absolutely certain they didn't miss anything. During that time, the cross's energy producing nanomachines ceased functioning as if they could feel the final death of their master. The device was left standing in the center of the demolished town as a testament to the gruesome battle.

"Hey, Hinata," Uzi began, "How, uh, how did you… you know… come back?"

She smiled. "I think it was that cross. Karin and Suigetsu drug it over to me and the next thing I knew, I woke up."

"I think I've got it figured out," Karin explained. "The microscopic machines inside the cross would have healed anyone within close proximity."

"Yeah, but every time we killed Priest he would just come back to life again really fast," Naruto pointed out. "It took much longer with Hinata."

"It was probably because she didn't have any of the machines already in her. That priest carried that thing around all the time, so his body must have been saturated with them."

The red-eyed blonde shrugged. It was the best explanation he had heard yet. "_What's important is that she's still alive._"

The group continued on the path until nightfall and set up camp, once again, in an isolated spot away from the road. That night, as the blue-haired Hyuuga slept, she felt as if she were being held closer than before by her red-eyed former crush. She reveled in the shared warmth and slept soundly… for the most part.

Her dreams were not of the pleasant sort that evening. They weren't full on nightmares, but the general content consisted of pain and suffering, surely influenced by the harrowing fight earlier that day.

After a while of uncomfortable dreams, she found herself standing once again in a partially flooded hallway lit by dim lights. "_I remember this…_" She thought as she walked down the corridor and arrived at a familiar set of gates.

"**You again,**" rumbled the fox's voice from the shadows of his prison as he appeared at the bars. "**What do you want?**" Surprisingly, the demon sounded… tired.

"I just woke up here," the woman responded brazenly. "I didn't really come to talk."

"**You're every bit as horrible a liar as that boy,**" he scoffed. "**Why are you here?**"

"I heard from the Uchiha that Naruto released all nine tails but still couldn't kill the priest. Why?"

The fox was silent for a moment. "**Despite what everyone would have you believe, it takes a good bit of concentration for him to properly use my power.**"

"Then why could he use it in Hive City?"

"**He was in a sane state of mind.**"

"What made this fight any different?"

"**He used some kind of drug,**" he referred to the Agende Vhansin's concoction. "**It broke down his mind to that of a wild animal. He lacked the proper focus to wield my power.**"

"I only saw eight tails."

He sighed. "**I used up one full tail and quite a few of the others to purge the poison quickly from his body. If I did not act, he may have very well stayed that way.**"

The white-eyed Hyuuga shuddered at the thought. "Why did you help him? If he dies, will you die as well? Or would you be freed from this prison?"

The nine tailed beast bellowed. "**I would die with him, but I would be free to come alive again.**"

"So why did you help him?"

Any sense of humor or jovial quality in the fox's voice died. "**Because… I have to.**"

"Some answer." She stood her ground. "Why?"

"**I am… forced to do so…**"

This got Hinata wondering. "Who could possibly be strong enough to order _you_ around?"

"_**Us!**_" replied a multitude of thousands of voices. The blue-haired easterner was startled by the sudden reply of uncountable voices reverberating from the shadows. The voices sounded like screams and whispers all at the same time. The Hyuuga scanned the narrow room to find the source, only to be met by an equally uncountable number of dull, glossy yellow eyes suddenly opening within every shadow that existed in the dank chamber.

"**Yes,**" the fox concluded. "**Them…**"

Hinata suddenly jolted from her slumber and immediately looked up at Naruto's face. He was sleeping peacefully, but now she was intensely worried. She laid her head back into his chest and thought over what she had just seen as sleep slowly crept back into her white eyes.

"_What's happening to you, Naruto?_"

-----------------------------------

A group of older richly dressed men marched authoritatively down the overly elaborate hall of the throne room. They halted at the base of the heightened chair and aimed their disgruntled looks at the man seated in the shadows.

"My lord!" The lead man addressed. "Did you order the release of the Jashin priest?!"

"Why, yes I did," replied the smug specter. "Is there a… problem?"

"The priest has been slaughtering entire towns in the countryside! Did you order him to do so?!"

"Hmm…" The figure examined his nails as he thought. "I merely told him to seek and destroy any red-eyes and their supporters."

"But he has been killing innocent civilians who have nothing to do with the resistance!"

"How can you know that for sure?" countered the suave voice.

"My lord," the elder man's voice became calm and serious. "The council has sat by and watched your disregard for human life go on long enough! This time you have overstepped your bounds as the leader of this country, and now it is time for you to face the consequences!"

The tyrant king merely sat there in silence. Then he chuckled. His humor quickly evolved from a miniscule show of amusement to laughing like a madman. As the apparent tears of laughter dried, the figure spoke again. "I think you gentlemen do not understand what the real world is like."

"What do you mean?" he asked apprehensively.

"I mean that you do not seem to grasp the fact that simply being in the presence of our enemies and not… reporting them in and of itself is a crime punishable by death."

"They were all innocent!" He retorted angrily. "We know they…"

"You know nothing!" The figure yelled and stood from his seat. "But no need to worry. I'll make sure you fully grasp what the world is all about. Lorsvall," he called to the shadows.

"Yes sir?" Responded a shadow as it stepped out from behind the darkness of the towering throne.

"I think I have some new recruits for your… special forces."

A grin could be seen on Lorsvall's darkened face. "Thank you, sir," he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, droves of soldiers dressed head to toe in black tactical gear stepped out from behind the shadows of the numerous pillars lining the chamber and lumbered casually toward the panicking elder senator members.

"Wha- What is the meaning of this?!" cried a member in the doomed group. "Soldiers, stand down! Stand down!!"

The troops ignored the command as they grabbed onto the struggling men and dragged them kicking and screaming back into the shadows.

The tyrant king sat back down on his throne. "It seems the Jashin priest has failed."

"My apologies, sir."

"No worries. He did an excellent job cleaning up some of the riffraff." The leader sounded pleased with the results of the mad priest. "Now all we need to do is await another report from the foreigner."

"Yes, sir." Lorsvall grinned as he disappeared behind the throne.

* * *

(Insert Vash the Stampede's retarded guy laughing voice) AHAHHHAHHAHHA!

Apparently, the general consensus is that I'm evil. Hell, I actually almost lost a reader (that I'm aware of) when I temporarily killed Hinata! But's it's all cool since she's alive again... for now... (Ehhehehehehhh... makes ya think, don't it?)

I'm pretty tired now. Think I'll take a nap before hittin' the books again. Peace!!!!


	23. As usual Per usual Etc! Some title eh?

Longer chapter this time. Well, okay, not that long.

disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, but all the other stuff you haven't seen before does. Oh, and that bottle of booze you're drinking right now.

warning: colorful language ahead.

* * *

Naruto, surprisingly, had awoken before the woman huddled in his arms. He pondered on whether or not to go back to sleep or stare at her peaceful features when his stomach made his decision for him. He gently released Hinata so as to not wake her and made his way out of the tent to eat something.

He was met by the lone Uchiha sitting on a log cooking… something over a small fire. Uzi sat on a cold rock opposite his dark follower.

"What's cookin'?" The blonde inquired.

"Rabbit," Sasuke answered blandly.

"Sweet," he flatly replied as he reached for one of the skewered animals and took a bite. "Hey," he broke the silence between bites. "Why do you want to kill your older brother?"

The avenger said nothing for a moment. "He slaughtered my entire family for power."

Naruto didn't skip a beat in his feasting. "Why'd he do that?"

"For power."

Uzi looked at him and raised an eyebrow as he chewed. "Power?" He asked as soon as he swallowed. "How so?"

"My clan possesses a bloodline ability; the Sharingan."

"Oh, yeah. It's that eye thing, right?"

He nodded. "My brother and I are a rare generation. Both of us are capable of using another level of our blood limit; the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"What's the difference?"

The Mangekyo Sharingan has the ability to essentially take over an opponent's mind for the purposes of torture. In addition, it enhances the normal abilities of the Sharingan."

"Messes with your mind?"

He nodded again. "However, I am unsure how it would affect the red-eyes. You all seem to garner some form of mental power from each other through telepathy, and I have never seen the Sharingan interact with a mind capable of such things."

The blonde merely shrugged as he took another bite. "So you want to kill your brother," he changed the subject. "But what happens after that?"

"I will restore my clan."

Naruto almost choked on his mouthful of meat when he burst out in a laugh. "So you're settling down?" A mischievous grin appeared on his face. "With about eight or nine women?"

The Uchiha's normally impassive face slipped, and the ends of his lips curled ever so slightly to form a smile. "Not really. I'll most likely settle down with one woman and have as many children as possible so when they marry the clan will expand."

"Dude," he was still chuckling hard, "I feel sorry for your wife. She's gonna be so sore!" His beaming increased.

"Shut up!" His eye twitched; a recent physical manifestation of his annoyance. "What about you? You seem close to the Hyuuga woman."

His good humor declined and he stared into space with a light smile. "Yeah, she's cool. I've always made a point of never getting too close to anyone, though, you know? Ever since I got kicked out of Konoha," his mood darkened at the stinging memories, "I've pretty much done it alone."

"Your recent actions seem to indicate otherwise," Sasuke referred to Hinata's death at the hands of the priest.

"Well," he sighed, "Let's just say she's not like most people…"

As if by command, Hinata emerged groggy-eyed from the tent. "Good mornin'," she yawned.

"Morning!" Naruto grabbed another charcoaled rabbit and pointed it at her. "Dead animal?"

-----------------------------------

The sun was well in the afternoon sky at this point in the day. The easterners had been walking all day along back roads and occasionally hiding as an unusually large number of military patrols passed by along the way as well. They were currently heading towards a large town in which there was a red-eye safe house.

They arrived on the main road without incident. All the civilians and even the stationed troops were going about their daily business without want of interruption. There was no news of a red-eye 'outbreak', meaning friendlies were still around. All in all, conditions were favorable.

Per usual in such situations, the non-red-eye easterners fell in line with Uzi leading them on. They bobbed and weaved through a series of alleyways and down a short flight of stairs to a thick door located deep within the shady part of town, home sweet home for people like Naruto and Hinata.

They were permitted entrance swiftly, as their hosts were expecting them well in advance. They casually strolled from the dimly lit front room into a spacious chamber which closely resembled a bar. As soon as they appeared they were met with a loud cheering.

"Hey Uzi!!" called a familiar nearby voice. "Great job takin' out that asshole!!"

"Hinata!!" yelled out another familiar voice. "So glad you made it!!"

"Uh…" Naruto and his Hyuuga companion were stunned. It was like a reunion in here. Well, almost.

"Get over here and drink!" Trench loudly invited the blonde over as Shades repeated the order to the blue-haired easterner.

The duo made their way through the sea of partying red-eyes. As they passed, each and every western specialist lifted their drinks, saluted, or gave an equally cheery greeting. "_At least Sheila isn't here…_" Hinata thought, not wanting to deal with another episode of unique greeting habits.

Trench and Shades walked over to a table and cheerfully ordered its intoxicated inhabitants to move. The inebriated red-eyes looked up to see why they had to give up their seats and spotted Uzi and the White Eyes of Death, so giving up their small table transformed from an annoyance to an honor. The eastern duo took a seat across from their joyous hosts.

"Dude," Trench said enthusiastically, "I can't believe you found that bastard so fast! You pounded his ass!"

"Ehe, thanks," Naruto responded while scratching the back of his head.

"You two should be proud!" Shades lifted her mug. "You both took down the guy who was takin' out all our people!"

"Yeah," Trench agreed, "You saved our asses big time! C'mon, drink up, drink up!"

Mugs were passed around and the eastern duo obliged their mildly drunken friends. When the bottoms of the bottles hit the table again, they started talking.

"So what are you guys doing here?" The Hyuuga asked.

"I'm here on business," Shades answered first.

"I came here once I realized Uzi here took out that hit guy from the capital." The other red-eye spoke up.

"We didn't expect a welcome like this," Naruto said as he glanced behind him at the full bar. "This can't be for us, could it?"

"You better believe it, man! All for you and the white-eye's victory!" Trench yelled before taking a long swig of his beer. His head came back down with his mouth ready to speak again. "I see you two lovebirds finally found each other!"

"That's so cool for you," Shades said as she leaned across the table and pinched Hinata on the cheek. "You cute little thing, you."

"Uh…" the duo simultaneously responded.

"C'mon!" Trench was in high spirits. "Drink more! This is a party, damnit!"

-----------------------------------

After a few more hours of conversation with their increasingly intoxicated friends, Naruto and Hinata retired with spinning heads to the quarters set aside for them. Once again they were confined to a small bed, this time due to the large number of inhabitants in the structure. As the duo settled down in their familiar pattern of sleeping, the blue-haired woman felt a sudden urge to voice a concern of hers.

"Hey Naruto," she began, "There's something bothering me."

"What's up?" He asked, looking down at her and refocusing his eyes.

"I know you have the fox sealed inside you, but… is there anything else?"

He thought about this for a moment, his slightly inebriated gaze shifting all over the place in the process. "No. Why?"

She looked down so as not to betray her disappointment. "_Is he lying?_" She wondered. "_If he is, then why would he hide it? But if he isn't… then what could be wrong?_"

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by light breathing sounding off from above her. She looked up and saw that the object of her affection had nodded off. She decided his approach was best for the moment, so she pushed herself up, gave him a light kiss, and snuggled herself back inside his warm arms to embrace slumber.

-----------------------------------

After sleeping for a while but having no memorable dreams, The Hyuuga opened her eyes and found herself, once again, in the dank prison of the nine-tailed fox. Per usual, she made her way to the cell of the demon and stopped short of it as it appeared to grudgingly welcome her, if one could call it welcoming.

"**Why are you here again?**" He asked with annoyance. "**I'm starting to see more of you than I'd like…**"

"How rude," she replied. "It's not like your going anywhere and I'm sure my company is more preferable compared to… those others."

The fox's head bobbed in a nod. "**This is true. My tormentors…**"

"_**Who?**_" called the thousands of screaming and hushed voices. "_**Has the demon fox decided to insult me?**_"

Hinata was startled; she didn't expect to hear the voices again. She turned to see the glossy yellow eyes glaring outwards from every possible shadow in the prison.

"_**It's not just you, you know,**_" a chorus of varied voices that sounded bored spoke up in response to the first.

"_**Shut it you lazy bastard!**_" The first ensemble yelled in an arrogant tone. "_**The fox knows not to mess with us!**_"

"_**We're only supposed to discipline him when he gets out of line, Superbia,**_" a third set of voices said. "_**But he sure does have a lot of freedom…**_" it added in a jealous tone.

"_**What I'd like to know is who this new girl is.**_" The first 'voice' referred to the Hyuuga. "_**She must really think she's something compared to me!**_"

"_**Leave her alone!**_" commanded a feisty set of hushed whispers and fiery yells. "_**It's not our job to keep an eye on her.**_" It redirected itself towards Hinata. "_**Did you bring anything with you?! Can I have it?!**_"

"_**Avaritia is right for once,**_" a fourth feminine chorus spoke. "_**As much as we don't want to, we have to follow the master's orders.**_" The voice seemed to move behind Hinata and stroke her gently across the back. "_**It's too bad,**_" 'she' added in a seductive tone, "_**This girl is certainly… enticing…**_"

"_**Can we kill her?!**_" yelled a fifth series of whispers and screams that produced the most bitter, hateful voice the blue-haired woman had ever heard in her life.

"_**No Ira,**_" the pathetic third voice answered. "_**Leave the pretty girl alone…**_" it trailed off and Hinata felt thousands of envious eyes staring at her.

"_**How 'bout eating her?!**_" yelled a deep boisterous sixth voice. "_**She looks tasty!**_"

"_**No, Gula,**_" the second ensemble rebuked lazily. "_**You can't eat her…**_"

Hinata was desperately afraid of the arguing chorus of untold thousands. However, even through her fear she noticed that each voice, despite being made up of thousands of whispers and yells alike, had a distinct tone. Something even seemed familiar about each of them, although she couldn't put her finger on it. As soon as her terrified mind had logically separated the entities, the primal part of her brain took over and she backed against the fox's cage.

"**You see what I have to deal with?**" The nine-tailed demon animal said in what was his equivalent of a whisper. "**I'd leave now before one of them looses it. If anything happened to you, they'd blame it on me…**"

As if she considered the suggestion a command, The Hyuuga suddenly woke from the hellish scene.

-----------------------------------

The chamber of the murderous ruler was as empty as it always was. Only the king and his 'advisor' Lorsvall occupied the room in silence, waiting for a certain individual to appear.

Itachi Uchiha had been offering his assistance only for a short time, but his constant updates on the location of Uzi had been accurate to the mark every time. His latest report, delivered mere minutes ago, told the tyrant king that the local rebel powerhouse was heading east to the strongholds of the vampires. Since the outlaw could not be intercepted before he reached his destination, a… special kind of soldier was needed for the job.

Said specialist entered the vast hall and marched attentively towards the throne. Upon reaching it, she saluted swiftly, her long wavy silver hair fluttering in response and her golden eyes regarding her master and commander with respect to his position.

"Silba," addressed Lorsvall, "At ease." She obeyed, her arm slamming to the side as she took a relaxed stance. The shadow continued with a grin, "First off, I should thank you for retrieving that sample from Hive City. Very impressive. It's very handy."

Silba did not respond to the sleezy gratitude. She simply stood her ground and regarded her commander with brilliant eyes.

"Because of your success, I feel as though I should reward you. Now tell me, what is it you want?"

"Sir," her soft voice spoke, its tone faltering to one of anger and resentment regarding the subject matter. "I wish to take revenge on Uzi!"

"And why is that?"

"Because he slaughtered my troops and…" her sentence trailed off as her facial features betrayed sadness. "He deserves to die for his crimes!"

"Excellent!" Of course, Lorsvall already knew of her wishes. "I am pleased to inform you that… others like you," the silver-haired woman perked up at that fact, "Are being assembled into a special unit for the sole purpose of hunting Uzi down in the vampires' homeland." She was unfazed at the mention of the supernatural creatures. "We are offering you leadership of this unit should you accept it."

"Yes, sir!" A look of fiery determination broke out on her face.

"Good, good!" Lorsvall lightly cheered her on. "Your squadron moves out soon. Please go join them in the barracks."

"Sir!" The golden-eyed woman clicked her boots together and saluted. She turned and swiftly exited the chamber, her buttoned tan overcoat fluttering slightly in her wake.

"Do you think she can handle it, my lord?" Lorsvall's phantom turned to the specter of his ruler.

He smiled. "Even if she can't, she will disrupt the outlaw's plans. All is well."

* * *

Well, there ya have it! I've named a few of the 'others' in the shadows of the fox's prison. You now (literally) have everything you need to piece together what the hell's going on regarding the fox and the voices by yourselves before I reveal it (I'm not joking, you really do!).

As for updates! I have a massive project due on Mon. that will take HOURS (mannnnnnnyyyyyyyy hours) to finish, so expect an unusual flux in chapters (aka: don't expect one a day, I have things to do). But you do have my word that I'll try to get y'all as much content as possible, time permitting.

C j00 l8r!


	24. To the Batcave!

Slightly longer chapter. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. Boo hoo hoo.

Warning: some colorful language ahead. Not much though.

* * *

After leaving the comfort and safety of the red-eye safe house, the group of easterners traveled for another week and a half towards their destination. They crossed the border with no particular problems, but zigzagging around towns was a necessity in the country directly to the east, as internal conflicts involving red-eyes were commonplace.

The entire Zersvampirie household, the largest family of vampires, was red-eyed, and the majority of related sects of the mythical beings were also among the ranks of crimson-eyed specialists. Since the creatures of lore were feared due to their extensive history of violence, red-eyes were commonly associated with vampirism by the ignorant masses. Ironically, the isolationist creatures' traditions and habits of killing ceased upon their conversion to the red-eyed legions, but outsiders preferred to ignore that fact.

Naruto and his company spent days traversing the narrow and dangerous paths trickling through the rugged gray mountains. Reaching the home of their next hosts was a feat in and of itself. They were about one more day's worth of trekking towards the stronghold when Uzi stopped short, eyes burning as he garnered knowledge of interest to him.

"Hey, hey," he turned to the group trailing him with a sly smile, "Looks like we aren't the only ones who decided to take a little vacation."

"Oh," Hinata said as she cocked her head. "Is… another friend of yours coming?"

His eyes lit up when she read him like a book. "Yeah! It's Daemon; he's from the country up north. You know, the one where my comrades are mostly demon slayers?"

"Cool," she nodded. "He really went out of his way to come here."

"You bet he did." The bright crimson in his eyes softened as they continued forward. "He's actually one of the three apprentices."

"Really?"

"Yeah. All together it's him, Vahre Blus, and Sheila."

"Vahre… Blus?" She repeated the strange name.

"That's right; he's Master Sünden's apprentice. He's also a vampire."

"I see…" No matter how many times Naruto explained things, Hinata could never fully wrap her head around all the colorful red-eyed characters with which he associated.

They resumed their cautious prodding through the dusty footpaths for the rest of the day and reached the isolated stronghold the following morning.

The first sign of their proximity to the vampiric fortress was that of an aging stone tower built awkwardly on the side of a cliff to the side of the gray dusty road. When the weary travelers passed by the structure, Naruto looked up and waved with a smile. The Hyuuga woman couldn't see anyone inside the dark enclosure at the top, but she suddenly saw movement; presumably a hand returning the friendly wave.

They scaled an enormous mountain after several twists and turns between the hollowed out cliffs. Upon reaching the crest of the rocky ridge, Hinata's breath, not to mention a bit of Sasuke's and his crews' as well, was taken away by the sight. Naruto mentioned that the vampires' home was a fortress, but they never imagined anything as extensive as this.

It appeared that the mountains had been leveled for many miles to create an artificial basin. Smaller stone castles stood proudly along various points on the inside edge of the mountainsides, connecting to each other and the 'city' below by what looked like a series of honeycombed tunnels and bridges. The city itself was another ball park altogether. A large castle that's top was not visible below the defensive ring of rock almost extended to the very base of the manmade crater. The enormous structure had multiple open areas within its enclosure, presumably for other exterior buildings. There were noticeable changes in architectural style throughout the superstructure, indicating that it was ancient and portions had been added over time. The castle looked primarily to be made of mottled gray stone, but the newest additions were made of smooth dark granite in the forms of towering gothic arches and flying buttresses. The outward appearance of the aged structure merged with newer materials gave the impression of the new being incorporated into the old.

Uzi turned to face his awestruck companions with a fantastic smile on his face. "Welcome," he announced with outstretched hands, "To the Zersvampirie household!"

-----------------------------

They had approached the main gate of the superstructure and were greeted by the heavy wooden doors creaking open to their arrival. As soon as they stepped through, Hinata was dumbstruck once again.

As a child, the Hyuuga woman knew a comfortable lifestyle, if only in the physical portion of her home. After all, the Hyuuga estate easily rivaled any other in terms of luxury. But this made her old mansion look like a cardboard box.

The entrance hall resembled a massive cathedral without the rows of benches. The stained glass windows adorning the top of the halls seemed to be illuminated by a nonexistent fire, and the recent columns, upon closer inspection, were inscribed with writings on what appeared to be the _complete_ history of vampires, ranging from their origins to the present day without skipping any family tree or the apparent life story of _every_ vampire that ever existed. The very tops of the columns, however, looked to be made of old darkened steel and possessed sharpened iron rods. The hall was beautifully adorned by rich items and numerous paintings of what were assumed to be notable vampires throughout history, but the visual appeal was clearly meant to distract anyone from the fading yet distinct stench of blood. Generations of gory murder tends not to come out of the carpets too easily.

"Welcome…" spoke a red-eyed teen as he closed the doors.

"_Wait…_" Hinata thought as she witnessed what was going on. "_He's closing that freakin' huge door by himself!!_"

The odd boy finished his task and clasped his hands together. "Uzi! Long time no see!"

"Eran," Naruto held out his hand with a smile. "It's been a while. How's your son doing?"

"He's good, he's good." The loosely dressed vampire turned towards the other guests. "Who're your friends?"

"This is Hinata Hyuuga." Uzi put his hand on her shoulder.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha," the avenger introduced himself. As the rest of his team gave their names, Naruto started down the massive hallway with the Hyuuga in tow.

As they walked, Hinata noticed more of the decoration of the room. Behind each pillar was a square hole that disappeared into the ceiling. She didn't even want to know its purpose. The further they walked, the more red-eyed creatures of legend appeared and greeted their familiar comrade and his white-eyed companion.

After they exited the hall and made their way through what seemed like miles of corridors and large indoor spaces, they reached what seemed to be the oldest portion of the superstructure.

Hinata noticed quite a few of the legendary specialists up and about. "Hey Naruto," she inquired, "How many vampires are here?"

He took a quick glance. "Uh… Not sure, really. Hell of a lot more than this, though."

"What?" She asked, thinking she heard him wrong.

"Yeah, the rumors about them only being able to come out at night might be false, but they're night people by a long shot. Looks like most of them are sleeping right now."

She shrugged. Just another part of her former crush's world she didn't quite understand.

-----------------------------

The duo was led through more hallways by an older red-eye who introduced himself merely as 'the servant'. He was a kindly soul, although his clothes, much like all the other vampires, were several sized too large for him. He opened a door that led to a balcony high above the ground, revealing two figures seated on old wooden chairs. As soon as the relaxed pair heard the door open they turned their heads to meet the Konoha runaways.

"Hey Naruto," remarked the vampire red-eye, given away by his oily black hair and dark baggy clothes. His garments were held together by a series of interconnecting belts, wires, and zippers. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Right back at ya Vahre," he replied.

"It's good seeing you again," the other man meekly greeted. He was dressed in heavy battle scarred armor from the neck down, one long smooth shaft of a sword that curved outwardly clipped to his back and two hunks of sharpened steel with two razor-edged barbs each clipped to his sides. His hair appeared extremely dry and he smelled faintly of smoke.

"You too, Daemon," Uzi returned.

"Who's the girl?" Vahre Blus asked.

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga," she bowed her head to show reverence to Naruto's elite friends. "Pleasure to meet you."

Daemon's dull expression perked up a bit at the familiar name. "The White Eyes of Death?"

She smiled. "Yep. Apparently I'm more popular than I thought." She added to the side.

"Have a seat," the vampire apprentice said as he relinquished his seat to sit dangerously on the balcony railing's edge. His example was followed by the demon slayer, who instead opted to sit cross legged on the cool floor with the railing supporting him.

"Thanks," Naruto said as he took the abandoned chair across from Hinata. "So what's been happening with you guys?"

"Not much," Daemon answered. "All the preparations amongst my followers are ready. We await Master Sünden's command."

Vahre Blus nodded. "Same goes for us."

"How is he?" Uzi referred to Sünden. "Is he here?"

The vampire nodded with what appeared to be a subdued smile, but he could have fooled them. "He's resting in his quarters right now. That seal has really come to bother him as of late."

The blonde's gaze drifted downward at the sad news. "I'm sorry to hear that…"

"It is unfortunate," the mythical red-eye sighed, "But everyone's time comes eventually."

"Yeah," the eastern red-eye's mood failed to improve. "You know…"

He didn't finish his sentence. All of a sudden, all three western specialists' eyes burned with deep crimson. As soon as their eyes returned to their normal glow, Naruto looked distressed while his brothers-in-arms appeared alert.

"What's wrong?" The Hyuuga asked innocently.

"Sheila's country is being invaded," Uzi answered her.

"Looks like the tyrant found out about the supporting forces there," Daemon added. "How did that happen?"

The gears turned in the blue-haired woman's mind. "Um…" She hesitated at her hypothesis. "I think I might know…" She was taken aback by the sudden attention she received from her present company. "Naruto is being targeted by someone named Itachi Uchiha. Apparently he's a dangerous criminal back in the east who needs him for something…"

"Needs him," the demon slayer interrupted, "Or the demon inside him?"

"The fox, of course," the blonde responded. "Anyway, continue Hinata."

She nodded. "Right. The Uchiha managed to sneak up on us before…," she struggled to recall the stealth specialist's name, "Geist found him. Even then, it wasn't actually him."

"Right, right," Vahre Blus interjected. "It was that… 'shadow clone', right?"

"Yeah. But if it took Geist to find a clone, then it might be possible for the Uchiha himself to track us without us being aware of it."

"This could be bad," Daemon turned to his fellow apprentice. "It'd make sense though. How else would that pagan priest know where to find them?"

Vahre Blus nodded as he thought. "I think we should move," he reached a solution after a minute. "Sheila's report indicates there to be a sizeable number of enemies including armored and walker divisions as well as heavy support. As cruel as it may sound, it would be best for us to move against the capital now while its attention is focused elsewhere."

"But…!" Hinata was mystified at the idea of virtually abandoning friends to their fate. "What about Sheila and the Agran brothers?! What about all the other red-eyes?!"

The apprentices stared at her with surprised gazes. "Well," Daemon began, "Despite their problems, they _can_ take care of themselves…"

"But what if they need your help? You'd be too far away to…"

She was silenced as the vampire held up his hand with an understanding smile. "I know where you're coming from Lady Hyuuga, but they really can take care of themselves."

She regarded him with a slightly confused yet disapproving look.

"Let me explain: Just because Sheila is the only official apprentice there doesn't mean they're doomed. The Agran brothers are masters in their respective fields, in fact, they were once offered apprenticeship under our masters, but they turned it down in favor of commanding their troops. They're more than able to fight off an invading force."

Hinata took this explanation in with a grain of salt. All in all, it was a logical plan, assuming that the vampire was correct in the categorization of his comrades under fire. She shrugged to concede defeat in the argument, although she still didn't like it.

"Your concern for our friends is greatly appreciated, Lady Hyuuga," Daemon spoke as he got to his feet and gave her a warm smile. "Almost makes me think you're one of us." He strode to depart from the balcony. "I'm going to retire for the day; transport by lava is a _bitch_."

As the smoky demon slayer exited the scene, he left behind two brooding red-eyes and a confused white-eye. "_What?!_"

"Daemon makes a good point," the vampire apprentice stretched and yawned as he leaned back unsupported on the railing's edge. "I've been up for the last week straight planning things out. I'll meet up with you two later." He bowed his head goodbye and silently fell off the balcony. Where he landed was anyone's guess.

"How about it?" Naruto turned to his blue-haired companion. "Wanna grab some dinner and hit the hay?"

She smiled as her stomach growled in response. "Sure."

As the duo made their way back down the hall, Naruto felt the need to give her some… culinary advice. "Oh, yeah. Whatever you ask for, be sure to tell them you don't want any blood on it."

"What?!"

-----------------------------

The droning noise of the zeppelin's propellers, while proving to be a mere annoyance from the interior of the airborne structure, drowned out all but a howling of the wind on the flight deck on the bottom level. Silba angled herself steadfastly against the strong advance of the cold wind on the open deck, closely buttoned overcoat dancing in the air behind her.

"Colonel Silba," the PA system crackled, barely audible to any mere mortal ears on the open air deck, "Your presence is required on the bridge."

She nodded to herself, eyes still lost in thought as they stared at the sky high above the clouds. She boarded the maintenance elevator, as using the main one would take seconds longer and be a waste of power. When the doors clanged shut and closed her off from the outside world, she pulled a small photo whose frayed edges showed constant use from her heavy wool coat.

"I'll get him for you…" She whispered to no one present as a tear formed in her eye. "I swear it."

* * *

The plot thickens, I guess.

It's 6 a.m. I have a long day tomorrow. Must. SLEEP!!!!!

Oh, yeah, just to reiterate: this weekend will probably see a disturbance in the releasing (I didn't say 'force'... crap) of chapters, so don't get your hopes up too high for some immediate action.

On another note, no one has gotten what the yellow eyes are and why they're there, but one of you came pretty close (actually, he/she got what they are, just not why they're there)

C'ya'll.


	25. May as well let you guys know

Hmm... a little shorter than I'd like, but there's plot points to be given before I can get to the action. So enjoy.

The usual disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Pity, isn't it?

* * *

As morning dawned in the cold room, Hinata awoke to the dull light of the sun peeking through the caged glass window. She squinted as the dim rays of the sun shined directly into her slumber-ridden eyes. Her stomach growled to indicate its desire for sustenance, yet failed to rouse the blonde red-eye holding her loosely in his arms.

She sat up in the soft bed without waking her companion and dressed for the coming day. The vampires had been kind enough to wash their clothes the previous evening before the duo retired, although how they managed to return the garments to the room without waking them frightened the Hyuuga a bit.

She opened the sturdy door and exited the room, closing it off as quietly as possible before starting towards the richly embellished dining hall she and Uzi frequented last night. On her way there, she met an unexpected familiar face.

"Oh, Master Sünden!" She recognized the elder red-eye. "Good morning. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Hinata Hyuuga," he replied with his warm smile, "As am I. Care to accompany an old man to his breakfast?"

"Sure," she nodded.

As they sat down and ordered their food- without blood- she struck a conversation with the progenitor red-eye. The talking didn't die down even when their hot meals were served or when Sünden twitched occasionally from the pain of his failing seal. The elder man's demeanor and warmness reminded Hinata of a stereotypical kindly grandfather.

"I… have something to ask you." She began to address a sensitive issue in her mind.

"What is it?"

"It's about Naruto…"

He smiled at the mention of one of his successor's name. "What about him worries you?" He seemed to read people rather well.

"Well… you know about his… tenant… right?" She asked nervously.

"The beast demon? Yes, of course."

"Right. Well, at night when I'm sleeping, I see the fox in his cell."

Sünden leaned forward, eyes becoming more attentive.

"And the last few times I saw it, it wasn't alone…" She recalled the frightening conversation between the shadowed voices.

He nodded in understanding. "I see. What else was there?"

She swallowed hard. "I saw… these yellow eyes; thousands of them. And there were voices too; sounded like thousands of them all speaking in tandem. They said they were there to keep the demon fox in line. Do you know what they are?"

"Oh, them?" He relaxed again with a smirk on his face. "That's me."

"I'm sorry?" She was baffled by the strange answer.

"Well, let me start from the top." He folded his hands together on the table and eased into a quick history lesson. "When Naruto first became a red-eye, he had access to the demon beast's energy, but he was always subject to its influence. Since I was the only other person with a similar situation, I offered to help keep the beast under control but still keep its power available to him."

The Hyuuga woman nodded as she listened carefully.

"Through the telepathic powers of the crimson eyes, I am able to… instill my powers into Naruto without them becoming a part of him. What you saw was no more than an extension of myself."

"I see," she said, still mildly confused by it all.

Sünden easily saw through her bewilderment and tried to explain further. "It appears you don't quite understand, so allow me to…" His explanation was rudely interrupted by a bout of extreme pain emanating from his dying seal.

Hinata was frightened by the spastic movements of the red-eyed leader. She leapt out of her seat when black inky smoke flowed from his pores and engulfed his head in a flaming plume of ebony mist. Yellow eyes and an outline of a black smile emerged from the depths of the cloudy fog.

"_**You again!**_" spoke a familiar chorus of voices. "_**So I see you've met our prison!**_"

The Hyuuga woman couldn't speak; she was frozen with the fear of seeing a physical manifestation of the voices.

"_**It's such a shame too,**_" another acquainted ensemble added. It carried a tone of absolute lust and perversion. "_**That we must be confined to such a boring man. The things I'd do to you if I were free…**_"

The white-eyed easterner finally commanded her feet to move back, albeit slower than she preferred. Her lavender eyes were locked on the seemingly nonexistent pitch black cloud.

"_**Kiiiillll!!**_" the furious chorus screamed before Sünden's hand snapped itself over his face. The inky mist's mouth opened as if to devour the extremity, but as soon as it bit down it dissipated into nothingness.

Hinata sank to her knees as Sünden struggled to retain consciousness. Many vampiric attendants rushed to his side to comfort him, including Vahre Blus, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"This was the worst outbreak so far," he muttered to himself before he took notice of the shellshocked Hyuuga. "Are you okay?" He directed his concern toward her.

She looked up at him with fear in her eyes. "Wh-wh-what w-was tha-that?" She stuttered.

"Master Sünden's curse," he gave her a grim look. "This is what will happen when his seal finally gives, except it'll be permanent." He noted that her gaze showed no comfort. "Come on," he lifted her to her feet. "Let's get you back to Naruto."

-----------------------------

As Sünden came to his proper senses, he felt ashamed that a non-red-eye visitor had witnessed such a breakdown in his condition. He glanced to the side to catch sight of his apprentice Vahre Blus leading Hinata out of the mess hall.

"_Now that I think about it_," his thoughts suddenly shifted, "_How is it that she can see Naruto's inner world?_" He smiled when he came to his conclusion. "_You're a lucky kid, Uzumaki. Luckier than you think…_"

-----------------------------

It took Uzi two hours to console his white-eyed friend out of her intense fear. She initially seemed to calm down when he held her close, so at least that helped. After whispering some sense into her, she finally peered into his crimson and azure eyes with some life in her own.

"Naruto," she said shakily, "Is… is that what you're going to be inheriting?"

"Yeah," he replied softly. "It is."

"But… but it's…" she couldn't think of how to speak her words.

"Evil?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I know."

"So why? Why accept it?" She seemed to be stressed by the idea.

"Because I can handle it."

"But you already have the fox to deal with. If you suddenly had these… things too, you might…" She cut herself off as her train of thought ventured into unpleasant territory.

"That won't happen," he reassured. "Sünden has the manifestation of one hundred thousand people's sins within him, and he successfully held them off for a long time. He's splitting his power four ways, so it won't be quite as strong. Besides," his whispering took a slightly cheerier note, "With that power at a fourth of its strength, the fox'll be able to keep it in check as well."

"But doesn't it keep the demon from taking over?"

He smiled lightly. "They'll be of equal power and at odds with each other; neither will take control without the other interfering."

Hinata didn't respond to this. She stared into space and then buried her face into Naruto's chest. She didn't trust her voice to say it, but she was more worried than ever for the blonde's safety.

Uzi responded by simply rubbing his hands up and down her arm. "It'll be okay," he said softly, "Nothing to worry about."

-----------------------------

Silba strode through the crowded cafeteria on the main zeppelin. The rows of benches and tables were crammed with food and soldiers dressed similarly to her wolfing down their meals and exchanging small talk about their current assignment and the invasion of the southern country. The female colonel ignored most of the dribble from her silver-haired, golden-eyed subordinates. No amount of talking about their mission outside of planning would ever get the job done, and the preparation phase had been worked out long ago.

She took the service elevator down to the windy open-aired flight deck. She preferred the howling of the cold wind as it blew in her face as opposed to the warmer levels above where she was guaranteed safety from the elements, if such things could ever adversely affect her.

Walking up to the very edge of the dead-end platform, she pulled out her fraying photo with an iron fist so as not to accidentally release it. Had anyone been present, they might have noticed the glistening of a tear as it rolled off her smooth cheek into the violent breeze.

After a few minutes of staring into the cloudy sky, she pocketed the photo and turned on her heel. It would be another day before she and her soldiers arrived at their target.

As she boarded the maintenance elevator, she felt a slight pang of nausea. "_Strange_," she thought, as the harsh weather and elevation never affected her. The sick feeling passed after another moment and the lift ascended back into the extensive airborne structure.

* * *

Well there you have it: the source and identity of the yellow eyes and voices. Did I surprise anyone out there, or did ya'll see it coming a mile away?

On another note, if you guys want to see something absolutely hilarious, go to youtube and type in "crazy indian video... buffalaxed" and watch the first choice. I haven't laughed so hard at a video like that in a looooong time!

Oh, and I'm noticing a drop in reviews. This might just be my paranoia talking (and believe me, it's there), but I'm taking this as a sign that this is gettin' boring and you guys are just leaving it to die. Is this right, or am I just a raving lunatic?

If I'm right, and this is becoming a snoozefest, please let me know. I'll try to do something about it (I say try because success doesn't neccessarily come on the first try).

Catch ya'll later.


	26. I say jump! Now how high!

Yo! Another chapter. A little short, but I want to start the action on a chapter all its own.

First off, I want to thank all you guys for your support and letting me know I'm just a raving lunatic! It means a lot to me!

Secondly, I would like to say that one of you reviewers nailed spot on a little fact. I won't say who's involved because that would give things away, but when the revelation comes around, pat yourself on the back (you know who you are!). So sit back (or forward, whichever is more comfy) and enjoy!

The usual disclaimer (even though I don't have to say this): I do not own Naruto, but I do own the original characters, plotline, and a small bottle of whiskey.

* * *

Hinata spent the rest of the day with Naruto exploring the extensive fortress. She had learned that the newest additions to the stronghold were the portions that resembled intricate cathedrals, and that said attachments were set in place under the command of the current Zersvampirie leader, Vahre Blus. She was surprised to learn that the 'young' vampire was, chronologically, well into his forties while his biology claimed him to be in his twenties. Apparently, vampires aged differently than normal humans, even if they were still subject to death from old age.

She was still disturbed by the scene in the dining hall that morning, although she was able to push it from her mind for the most part. Spending time with the ever cheerful Uzi put her at ease, but as soon as she settled down a little voice in the back of her head reminded her of the impending future. Strangely enough, that little voice was… unfamiliar, distant… almost as if it were not hers.

Her concerns were not limited to just Sünden and his decision though. As she gazed ahead, she also considered what she felt about her current stead in life. She had completed her childhood goal of finding Uzi, but now what? When she first started out, she had a clear reason; she was following her loved one. But as time went on, her infatuation began to die as she was continuously separated from her special someone. He was certainly a good friend and loyal companion, but like Shades had told her, he felt… distant. She even knew his secret and accepted it without a second thought, but something else seemed to be holding him back. Not that it all had to do with him anyway, as she herself couldn't tell what she felt towards the blonde anymore. She didn't know what to do.

Even Naruto was in turmoil, and not just over Sünden's critical situation. As much as the elder man had helped him in his youth, he never was able to pay him back for his kindness. He even wondered if constantly keeping the fox in check might have strained his master's seal and was slowly killing him. As dark as these thoughts were though, they were not the foremost fears present in his mind. He thought back to when he saw his blue-haired companion killed by the insane priest and how it tormented him. All these years, he specifically kept himself from getting close enough to anyone that their inevitable death would cause such pain, and yet he violated his own self-inflicted rule. He knew full well that the future would be no safer, and, as selfish as it may have seemed, he did not wish to go through such heartache ever again. On top of that, there was Hinata's frightened reaction to Sünden's power. Sooner or later, he would posses a portion of that power, and he was equally terrified at losing her due to something beyond his control. It would be like being exiled from his old home all over again.

He was silent as he pondered his conundrum. It was as if he both wanted to get closer to the white-eyed woman while at the same time keeping her at arm's length, so to speak. One part of him desperately wanted her, yet didn't want to feel the pain of losing her. The simplest answer to his problem would be to protect her at all costs, but he was mature enough to know that merely because he willed something did not bring it about. To put it simply, he didn't know what to do.

"Hey," he spoke up in an attempt to break the awkward silence and distract him from his own thoughts. "I think Daemon might be leaving soon. Wanna go see him off?"

"Yeah," she nodded in return; glad to be equally distracted from her brooding.

------------------------------

The eastern duo approached the red-eyed demon slayer as he exited the front gate of the massive stronghold. He turned to greet them with a smile.

"Naruto, Lady Hyuuga," he spoke with his raspy voice. "You two here to see me off?"

"Of course," Uzi replied.

"Well, thanks." He unclipped the long smooth sword from his back and gently stuck the tip gently into the ground, hands resting on the knobbed hilt. "I discussed our course of action with Master Sünden this morning. Our forces not under fire are going to move out tomorrow."

The blonde red-eye nodded. "Alright. I assume the details will be relayed to everyone by the red-eyes?"

"Yep." As soon as he replied, Vahre Blus appeared from the gates, attracting Naruto's attention. Daemon took this momentary distraction to turn his focus towards Hinata. "Lady Hyuuga," he quietly addressed her.

"Yes?"

"I heard about the… incident this morning from the master. You alright?"

"Yeah… yeah," her voice was subdued as her gaze shifted downwards. She was obviously trying not to think about it too much.

"Listen," the red-eyed demon slayer continued, "If it's any consolation, when that power gets split four ways, it's manageable. Naruto's not an apprentice so he was never taught this, but that power is compounded; it cannot sustain itself if broken four ways. Besides," he added, "Master Sünden was suddenly cast into the fire without any knowledge of how to hold it back. After a lifetime of figuring it out, we now have the strength of mind to deal with it. Does this news… appease you in any way?"

She thought over it for a moment and decided that it did put her mind to ease a bit, even if her underlying fear was still there. "Yeah, that helps," she smiled lightly.

"Good," he said as the blonde's attention as well as the vampire's was turned towards him. "Well guys," he announced with a smile as he lifted his sword and struck the ground, "I'll see you in the capital!"

Hinata was surprised as the ground suddenly split when the sword struck it. She felt a wave of heat that passed after a brief moment. Daemon wasted no time in casually stepping over the crack and falling in. She leaned forward to see what he had done, and observed that he fell smoothly through the deep, craggy hole and disappeared in a wave of flowing lava. She immediately turned in horror to Naruto and Vahre Blus who looked on as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"What- what…" her brain tripped over her words as she struggled to voice her bewilderment.

"Oh," Vahre Blus explained casually, "That's how he gets around so fast. He'll be fine. A little dried out on the other side, but fine…"

Naruto had a good laugh at Hinata's expression as he put his arm around her in a drinking buddy manner. "You should see the look on your face!" he exclaimed between outbursts. "It's great!" He started leading his blue-haired companion back to the open gates.

Before the eastern duo passed through the outer opening, the Hyuuga woman glanced back towards the overcast western sky before redirecting her eyes towards her front. Her subtle action caused Vahre Blus to stop and gaze in the same direction. Something… different was in the air. His blood felt it.

He kept his thoughts silent before continuing through the massive gates. "Alright guys," he announced as the doors were closed. "Rest up for now! We're moving out in the morning!"

------------------------------

Night had fallen as the multiple zeppelins hovered high above the clouds over their target. Colonel Silba stood resolutely in her usual position at the edge of the flight deck. This time, however, she was not alone, as the deck was stuffed with her subordinate soldiers checking and rechecking their equipment.

She peered into the night sky at the brilliant full moon. "_Excellent_," she thought, "_Even if the clouds are out tonight._" She gazed down at her equipment, which only consisted of a small field surgeon pack and a slim combat knife strapped to her overcoat's loose belt. Some of her troops actually carried firearms and explosive ordinance, but everyone knew the real weapons lay with the soldiers themselves.

Silba glanced over at the other blimps. All the open air flight decks appeared loaded to the brim with her soldiers ready to go at a moment's notice. She listened intently to her portable radio as each battle group reported their status. As soon as all the groups announced their readiness, she touched the transceiver button and gave her order. "All teams descend!!"

With that, she jumped off the platform and was immediately followed by her thousands of troops. Their tan overcoats flapped violently as the wind caught them and their golden eyes and silver hair shined in the moonlight. The hordes of soldiers were utterly silent as they fell untold thousands of feet through the sky, ready to pounce on their enemies.

As soon as they fell out of the clouds, Silba's sharp golden eyes darted back and forth in search of her target. Her vision was as clear as ever in the night sky and her focus was unhindered by the thousands of feet she had left to descend before her feet found the ground. She caught a hint of blonde hair with red streaks and smiled as she angled herself towards it.

"Gotchya," she muttered through a grin.

* * *

First off, I'd like to apologize for the overload of angst in our favorite duo. I kept thinking, "What the hell did I just write?!" during the editing process, but it is necessary for their situations to be understood for it to work out extra well (if that's possible) in the end.

Secondly, the action will begin next chapter! Of this, I promise!

Catch ya'll later!


	27. Have pity on me! I beg of you!

Eh... not quite as long as I wanted it, but I wanted to update something. There's a more detailed reason in the ending author's notes.

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but, let's face it, I could do worse!

warning: standard foul language warning. Not that you'll listen.

* * *

The easterners were ready to depart from the vampiric stronghold when the sun set that night. Once the moon emerged hidden behind the overcast night, the remaining creatures of lore had risen from their daytime slumber and were fully prepared to move out. Naruto and his entourage took the scenic tour on the way out and were passing over an outdoor ledge when a sudden outcry sounded from every direction. As soon as the shock of the unexpected guttural shrieks subsided, the foreigners peered into the night sky, as it was the only possible source of any danger.

"What are those?" Hinata asked under her breath.

"I dunno…" Naruto responded as he squinted at the approaching objects falling silently through the twilight atmosphere. His eyes widened once he realized that they were people in freefall, and one of them was angling towards them…

"Move!" Sasuke ordered, Sharingan blazing as it instantly read the immediate path of the person descending at terminal velocity. Uzi moved just in time to avoid getting flattened by a flash of tan and silver.

Everyone stood stunned and alert as they looked on the woman who had fallen from the sky and landed unharmed in a crouching position, having cracked the heavy stone beneath her tan leather boots. The woman slowly stood and faced them, tossing her long smooth silver hair to the side and revealing a pair of brilliant golden irises. She immediately eyed Naruto and let loose a nasty snarl.

"Who the hell are you?!" the blonde red-eye asked, both shocked and aware all at once.

The young woman glared at him and said nothing for what seemed an eternity. "Uzi," she finally spoke after the ocular showdown, "I'm here to kill you." Her otherwise soft and pleasant voice was dripping with intense hatred and spite.

"Figures…" the eastern red-eye said to the side. "I'm so popular these days…"

The woman stood calmly as she undid the buttons of her overcoat before easing her arms from her heavy sleeves, allowing the woolen outerwear to fall to her sides supported only by her outer belt. This caused everyone to flinch ever so slightly in surprise when they saw that she wore no clothing of any sort under the coat, save for her pants and boots. Visually, she was quite the looker with her soft skin, small yet well-built frame, and her... other ample features. But all this was momentarily negated by the fact that she was practically leaking hatred.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Hinata yelled out, perturbed at the silver-haired woman's behavior.

"Prepare to fight, Uzi!" she yelled as she clasped her hands together. She closed her eyes and began mumbling something, the surrounding air seeming to change and react to her muted chanting.

Juugo began shaking with excitement and anticipation, attracting the attention of Sasuke's group. "I… wanna kill something…" he shakily spoke as his cursed genes began to kick into gear.

"Damnit!" Karin swore. "Not now!"

"Hold it," Sasuke commanded. "We could use this. Juugo," he addressed the large man with bloodline eyes, "You can kill her." He pointed to the golden-eyed woman.

Juugo smiled maniacally as he gave in to his murderous urges. "Alright!!" He cried as he charged from the group toward the half naked enemy. "You're so dead!!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan when the elegant stranger started chanting and noticed a change in the foe's chakra when Juugo charged. "Wait! Stop!" she called out to the berserk easterner as he brought an arm with multiple genetically enhanced protrusions back to strike.

He never touched the enemy. As soon as he threw his fist forward, she moved over his left shoulder as swiftly and silently as possible, with the exception of the noise caused by the forced removal of the large man's clavicle, scapula, and a few ribs via her newly sharpened teeth. Juugo, despite his possession of his cursed abilities, was still only human. He crashed to the ground and went into immediate shock as he lost blood at a phenomenal rate. Before the bloody bones dropped from the silver-haired woman's mouth hit the stone walkway, he was dead.

"Shit! Juugo!" Sasuke yelled.

"Ugh… damn…" Suigetsu temporarily overcame his dislike of his former companion to offer his sympathies.

Karin was dumbstruck. She had studied her dead teammate's genetics for years, and never once had he ever been vulnerable to such an attack until now.

Naruto and Hinata, however, stood their ground. In a way, they expected the man to go down from blindly charging ahead. They gazed upon their changing foe with alert eyes.

"Moron!" the woman yelled at the disfigured corpse. "Don't get in my way! I'm here for Uzi and Uzi alone!" She turned back towards the blonde and his blue-haired companion with a grimace.

"What the hell are you?" the Hyuuga asked calmly, her blood limit revealing a constant shifting of the woman's chakra.

Naruto's eyes widened with horror when his red eyes suddenly burned brightly. His adversary smirked, knowing that he now knew exactly what he was up against. "Everyone," he turned back to his companions, "Run!! She's a lycanthrope!!"

Hinata raised an eyebrow. "_A werewolf?!_" she proclaimed inwardly as Karin and Suigetsu obeyed the blonde red-eye's command.

"Very perceptive," the woman spoke softly as her energy spiked and shifted again. "I guess I should inform you then…"

Naruto turned back with danger in his eyes. Hinata picked up on his mood and prepared for an attack.

"I am Colonel Silba of the Lycanthrope Regiment," she informed with a sneer. "Just thought I'd let you know who'll be killing you tonight." She ended her statement by suddenly melting into mist and traveling towards the red-eyed blonde with freakish speed.

Uzi leapt back as the mist came together in midair and Silba launched a series of spinning kicks, increasing her momentum with each strike. He built up energy in his left hand and struck her with his razor sharp tattoos only to have her transform into fog again and move to his back. He unleashed an energy tail to swipe the area behind him but was too slow as she landed a solid blow to the back of his head.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried out as she rushed to his side. She struck at the silver-haired woman to no avail, as the werewolf merely burst into fog again and reformed with an uppercut to the Hyuuga's chin. The white-eyed easterner stepped back instinctively and poured her chakra into her arms, thrusting her deadly palms at the golden-eyed woman with blinding speed as she pushed forward.

Silba responded to the advancing barrage of gentle fists by kicking herself backwards on one foot and shooting forward again with the other as soon as she touched the ground. She twisted her agile body to avoid most of the blue-haired woman's lethal attacks and landed the heel of her free boot into Hinata's gut, prompting the Hyuuga to let loose the contents of her stomach.

Naruto intervened with an energy whip from his right arm's tattoo. It caught Silba around the waist and almost cut into her before she reverted to mist again. "_Damnit!_" the blonde cursed, "_We can't do anything while she's like that!_" He attempted to call out to the Hyuuga or Uchiha to determine if their eyes could somehow discern the lycanthrope's moves only to be interrupted as the werewolf's arm came together from the haze and elbowed him in the neck. He faltered as the pain coursed through his body when the werewolf flicked her knife out of its scabbard and prepared to run it through his head.

She suddenly became aware of a crackling spear of energy headed towards her. She melted into mist and moved up a wall as Sasuke's energy sword protruded from his hand to her previous standing.

"Naruto!" He called. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Uzi responded between hacking coughs. "I'm fine. Thanks for the save."

"I can't predict her movements when she's hiding in the fog." He swung his extended chakra through the haze perched high above them, only to stir the smoke.

"She's a lycanthrope. She _is_ fog! You can'tpredict that!"

"What?!" He yelled as the mist shot forward. The Uchiha released his chakra spear and unsheathed his sword to counter the she-wolf.

The smog suddenly split to avoid the unique blade and moved around the avenger. As his eyes followed the train of aquatic smoke to his right, a knee formed on his left and scored a heavy blow to his face. He stumbled back before Silba's hand reformed, clutched his foot, and yanked back, sending the Sharingan user off balance. He averted his eyes to catch himself when he noticed the mist was moving behind him and thickening, meaning the golden-eyed werewolf was about to strike from behind…

But he was suddenly jerked upwards. He turned to his savior to find Naruto holding onto his cloak, all nine chakra tails brimming with power as he used them to scale the towering fortress wall.

"Gimme your sword!" Uzi demanded.

"What?! No! I need it!"

"She's after _me_! Now hand it over!"

"You don't even know how to use it!" His retort was answered by him being flung onto a higher walkway and his blade being wrenched from his hand. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'll give it back later!" Naruto replied as he continued forward rapidly upward with his tails acting like a spider's legs. Sasuke followed the blonde with his eyes when the mist of Silba streaked by, headed straight towards the eastern red-eye.

"_Oh, damnit…_" Uzi thought as the fog sped upwards with a faint golden glow leading it. "_I'm gonna need help on this one…_"

-----------------------------

Hinata gazed with her Byakugan at the near vertical battle of Silba and Naruto. It had taken her precious minutes to recover from the strong blow to the gut; too much time, in fact. Why the she-wolf didn't finish her off was a mystery to her.

She was worried and a bit pissed off all at once. Uzi was taking hit after hit from the lycanthrope, but every time he tried to retaliate he struck nothing but mist. "_Werewolves are really something…_" she observed inwardly. She was jarred from her thoughts when another wolf man's smog incarnation streaked up the precipice of the walkway, closely followed by a surge of flying… blood?

The blood abruptly splashed together to form a red-eyed vampire. The western specialist pulled a slim knife from a leather pouch and flung it over the fog which suddenly came together to expose the attacking lycanthrope. The werewolf stood frozen for a split second as the vampiric red-eye rushed him, only to transform into fog again and continue the gravity-challenged pursuit.

The Hyuuga woman wondered what just happened for a moment. To be sure, her bloodline revealed that there was currently a large scale battle between the legendary creatures, but she hadn't been paying attention to the individual fights until now. She peered upwards and noticed the vampire's blade stuck in a crack in the stonework. She focused chakra to her feet and started walking along the wall, taking careful steps as she had never quite gotten the hang of taking a stroll on a non-horizontal surface. When she approached the protruding knife, she loosed it from the crack and examined it.

"_This thing's nothing special,_" she noted, seeing that the blade was pure iron and nothing else. "_But, maybe…_" She formulated a desperate plan as she sent more chakra into her feet and ran towards Naruto's current position. "_Just maybe…_"

* * *

Alright, here's the skinny: As many of you might be aware, I'm a college student. Next week is my final week of this semester. Now, while my school is an art school (for lack of a better term), this means that while we don't have exams, we DO have final projects, all of which take insane amounts of time to complete and let me pass my classes.

Due to my new time constraints, I will be unable to spend any significant amount of time writing. You've already gotten a taste of my schedule, seeing as how I haven't updated in a few days (I spoil you all so. nyaa). What I'm saying is that I have to focus all my efforts into schoolwork and won't be updating until the end of next week. Now, before you burst out into tears, remember how good I've been to you guys, updating damn near every day since I started this. I wont leave ya hanging. I'll start up again as soon as school gets out. Hell, I'll even write a chapter or two on the flight back home during Christmas break.

So in the mean time, wish me luck on my evil, evil projects, and I'll see you guys in a week and a half!!


	28. I AM ALIVE! MAYBE!

Wow, sorry for taking so long! I know I said a week to a week and a half, but two weeks?! My bad, my bad...

Anyways, my finals are done, I'm sitting at home with tv (sw33t!), and I've got all the time in the world to do... absolutely nothin'.

Oh! A reminder: Don't forget about the artwork contest, those of you who are participating. I actually have yet to start myself, but I outta have enough time before my own due date...

Well, I'm sure you didn't come here to read the author's notes, so without further ado...!

(disclaimer: I don't own Naruto at all. Gotta say though, I really should, dammit! Oh yes: swearing warning!)

* * *

Naruto was having a rough time with the female lycanthrope. Interestingly enough, ever since he sequestered Sasuke's short sword he was able to… persuade the werewolf's movements. Silba seemed to be avoiding the simple iron blade, going so far as to break off attacks in response to untrained swipes through the air.

But try as he might, the blonde red-eye could not gain an edge. He thrust the sword into the misty form of the golden eyed woman only to have her move to the right, reform a leg, and strike a powerful kick out towards him. He managed to grab the boot with his left hand and send a wave of sharpened energy through his tattoos, but to no avail. The leg dispersed the instant before the harmful energy made contact and Uzi jerked back to put some distance between them. He was stopped as Silba's other leg came together from the aquatic smoke and planted itself in the back of his head, sending him somersaulting forward on the vertical wall.

"_Son of a bitch!!_" He swore inwardly as he could feel the fog caressing a cold steel blade against the back of his neck. He pulled himself upwards against the wall with his tails, swinging the sword wildly in front of him while lashing out with a handful of short energy whips from his right arm that dug into the small protrusions along the wall.

His silver-haired combatant appeared from her smoggy cover and glared at him. "Hold still!" She sneered. "Why won't you just die?!"

"I got somethin' to live for," he replied smugly before the lycanthrope woman melted into her familiar vapor form and split into several paths towards the blonde. He manipulated his energy-laden appendages to push and pull him sideways against the stone bulwark of the vampiric fortress.

"Get back here and die, you coward!!" screeched the enraged mythical soldier through her condensation figure.

Naruto faced her, blade at the ready, as his tails furiously jerked him away. Despite the non-corporal form of his enemy, he could see her golden eyes burning with hatred and… tears? He swung five tails in front of himself to act as a shield and shoved the sword forward to prepare for a strike against the rapidly encroaching drizzle, but Silba skillfully maneuvered around every defense and formed a knife hand strike in mid-thrust aimed for his throat. Uzi's vision tunneled on the incoming deathblow, his focus blurring the world around the stiff, outstretched fingers. "_Is this it?_" He mused, barely noting a sliver of movement fly overhead through his blurred perception.

Silba suddenly came together, blinking and frozen in surprise. The blonde didn't immediately register that he was still among the land of the living, so he hesitated in delivering a counterstrike. When he finally realized she had been miraculously thwarted, he yanked his five protruded tails inward to impale the she-wolf. She burst into smoke and shot upward before the sharpened energy could dig into her, but this time a shred of her overcoat was torn away and fell to the ground.

"What just happened?" He thought out loud.

"It's that knife!" Hinata exclaimed as she ran up the wall and deposited herself onto a stone protrusion. "Something about that knife makes the werewolves revert back to normal!"

"Huh?" He looked stupefied at her, then at said knife stuck in the wall, then at the sword in his hand. The gears turned in his head as his eyes flared crimson to garner knowledge from the other red-eyed specialists. "That's it!!"

"What?!" The white-eyed easterner proclaimed loudly.

He turned to his blue-haired companion. "Iron! It's the iron!"

"Iron…?"

"Yep! It's an old remedy against her kind," he explained warily, glancing over at the she-wolf perched on the wall. "Throw iron over or at a lycanthrope to reveal their human form. Ain't that right, Silba?"

She snarled at him. "Looks like you aren't so dumb after all, but that won't save you." She melted into mist again and charged the duo.

Hinata pumped chakra into her legs and dodged to the side to avoid the werewolf girl, but was surprised when the fog arced to intercept her. She pulled a handful of rusty shuriken from her aging pouch and let them fly only to pass harmlessly through the air as the she-wolf angled around them. She then unsheathed two oxidized kunai and crossed them in front of her in a last ditch attempt to hold the werewolf off. Needless to say, it was a futile move.

Silba slammed both outstretched legs into the Hyuuga's stomach, causing the blue-haired woman to fall off her perch. The Lycanthrope immediately followed up on her barrage against Hinata by knocking a few stone appendages off the wall and drop kicking them towards her. With her Byakugan active, the eastern woman easily batted the heavy projectiles out of the way. She was currently far more worried about where she would land after such a long freefall.

She frantically focused downward to locate a foothold or at least something to slow her descent. She reached out to grasp an extended stone block when she was suddenly shoved sideways. Her advanced vision instantly found the reason behind her redirection: Silba. The lycanthrope was pursuing her with a vengeance. The she-wolf spiraled into mist and formed her knife straight at the front of the fog, aiming straight for Hinata.

The blue-haired foreigner's mind froze. She was in midair, so dodging was impossible. Any iron weaponry was stored, and the gap between the women was too small to retrieve any in time. In short, she was a dead woman.

Sasuke's sword suddenly flew over the werewolf's haze and Silba immediately came together.

"Damnit!" She cursed before she went into freefall and exploded into mist before one of Naruto's jagged energy whips stabbed into her. The smoky form shrieked and shot away to a safer point.

Naruto had finally caught up to the descending Hyuuga. His tails scampered him towards her and he grabbed her arm. "Finally!" he yelled. "You weigh a ton!" he added with a laugh.

"Stuff it!" she shouted back before being set down on a narrow walkway. "How are we gonna take her down?"

He glanced at the lycanthrope. "We need some wolfsbane or silver. They're badly allergic to both."

Hinata's bloodline saw Silba's eyes widen as Uzi put together a rough plan. "Where we gonna get any of that?"

The blonde red-eye yanked the Uchiha's short blade from its crevice. "That knife you had, did you get that from a vampire?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Then the Zersvampiries must have a cache of stuff we can use," he explained with a grin. He turned to his white-eyed companion. "Let's go find it."

-----------------------

The eastern duo was charging across a bridge that connected two squat towers. They had been evading combat as much as possible, as they had run into a few deadlocked skirmishes and witnessed a large scale battle in an open courtyard.

Naruto and Hinata ran into a hallway that intersected with another. When they passed the perpendicular corridor, they saw a handful of vampires and werewolves hammering away at each other. They were about to clear the opening when Silba suddenly reformed and shouted out an order.

"Hans!" She yelled down the chamber, catching the attention of an overcoat-clad lycanthrope with an upturned collar. "Shoot 'em!"

Hans shot his arm forward and caught a huge pistol that flew out of his sleeve. As soon as his fingers curled around the handle, he let fly a barrage of large caliber rounds.

Uzi brought an energy appendage to life and shot it out to the side, easily catching the rounds. However, the projectiles were loaded with energy that transferred into the impromptu shield. The force of the blow was enough to cause the blonde's running stance to stagger as he absorbed the blow. The shots slowed them down a split second, but did no damage otherwise.

They cleared the intersecting hallway and were immediately caught by Silba, who had taken advantage of Hans's interference. She burst into her familiar mist form and charged to strike from behind.

"Again?" Hinata asked no one in particular. "This is getting old…"

"Mm-hm," Uzi nodded in agreement as he spiraled his tails out behind the two. He grabbed the Hyuuga by the waist then struck the ground with the accelerated tails, launching the pair forward.

They approached the end of the elongated chamber with the she-wolf closely in tow. The gothic doors were open, revealing the burning night sky and the sights and sounds of battle.

The eastern duo launched out of the doorway, narrowly missing a vampire rushing across the parapet. Silba, however, was not so lucky. Her misty form touched the legendary creature, coming into contact with his exposed iron blades. She instantly reverted to her human form, transferring her speed into actual force. Her sudden heavy blow with the bloodsucker sent both of them flying into the stone guard rail. She reeled back and shot her narrowed fingers into the vampire's chest, puncturing the red-eye's heart. She yanked the dead organ from the warm corpse and tossed it over the side.

Uzi saw an opening. He threw the short sword directly towards the golden-eyed woman and instantly let loose a barrage of sharpened energy from his tattooed hand. The she-wolf seemed to be affected by the mere proximity of iron, let alone actual contact.

The silver-haired lycanthrope barely composed herself in time to avoid being impaled by the blade. The sword swiped cleanly through her hanging overcoat, tearing some thick woolen cloth apart and dropping something white to the ground. Silba cursed as she spiraled into fog and flowed off the bulwark to avoid the trailing slicing energy.

"Hey," Naruto said excitedly, "I'll bet that vampire's got what we need."

The duo rushed over to the dead creature of the night. The blonde red-eye began stripping off all the iron weaponry and going through the body's pockets when Hinata noticed the white slip that fell from the lycanthrope's heavy clothing.

"What's this?" she asked quietly as she picked up the photo and turned it over. She saw two figures in the picture, one of whom was their werewolf opponent. "Who's he?" she wondered out loud as she observed the second person in the image.

"What?!" The she-wolf appeared over the edge several yards away. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the photo in Hinata's hand. Shock gave way to anger as she realized what it was. "Give that back!!"

"Who's he?" Hinata's curiosity got the better of her as she flashed the photograph at the silver-haired woman.

Tears began to form in the corners of Silba's rage-filled golden eyes. "That's… Günsche…"

"Who's Günsche?" Naruto also gave in to his wonder.

The female werewolf clenched her fists as she answered. "You should know! You killed him!"

"Where?!"

"Hive City!!"

He thought for a moment. "Was he part of the invasion force?"

She responded with a snarl.

He sighed. "You know, he came there looking to kill me and my people. It was either him or us, and he knew it. Why are you so surprised?"

"_Shut up_!!" Her energy started to flare outwards.

Hinata kept her Byakugan firmly focused on their opponent when she noticed something strange about Silba's chakra network. The moment she laid eyes on the she-wolf, she noticed an extra, smaller set of coils which she had attributed to the fact that the golden-eyed soldier was a lycanthrope. But now the larger system of chakra was transforming and shifting, leaving the smaller set unchanged. "_Now that I think about it_," she mused inwardly, "_Has she even used that smaller set yet?_"

"He was the only normal human I could get close to!" The werewolf screeched in an ever-deepening voice. "He was the only person who ever accepted me for who I am!" Her body began to enlarge. "He was the only person who ever loved me!!" Suddenly, mist poured from her shifting body and started forming a solid shape of fog around her. She glanced up at the full moon, now unveiled in the overcast sky. "Now you'll see the full strength of a lycanthrope!!" The haze completely covered her body and took the shape of a massive wolf. Golden eyes came to life on the head and 'she' leaned back and let loose a deep howl at the moon.

"Oh, son of a…" Naruto started.

"Bitch…" Hinata finished.

* * *

It took a while to get over some wierd kind of writer's block with this chapter; it took a LOT longer than the 2-3 hours I'm used to. So until I get back into my groove, I'd say NOT to anticipate a once-a-day release rate.

Oh yeah, one more thing: those of you who **demand** releases (you know who you are), I have but one thing to say. I believe this example once quoted by my friend Nick is applicable here: "Your horn does not make my car any faster."

So, don't try to boss me around (sorry, most of you guys are are pretty good about not doing that, but like I said, you know who you are.). Doing so will only fuel my desire to do something else (sit on the couch doing nothing).

C'ya 'round!


	29. Foxes Wolves and Bats! JOYOUS TIMES!

Gah! Writer's block suxxxx! Anyways, here's the next chapter.

Update on the art contest thing (at least, my part in it): gonna start on the rough sketch tomorrow. I thought I did a good one several weeks ago, but then I looked at it again today. Bleah. Also thought I was gonna do the whole thing in Photoshop too, but there's not enough time left for anything I would find satisfactory, so I'll stoop to... (shudder) colored lineart... in order to make my own damn deadline. Oh well, life goes on...

But you don't wanna hear (or read) my ranting! Go on, read little ones, read!

disclaimer (I should have put this in the story description so I didn't have to say this every time): I don't own Naruto. Period. Crap. Also: swearing ahead!

* * *

Naruto and Hinata ran for their lives. Ever since Silba had transformed herself into a full-fledged wolf, any attack with her on the receiving end failed miserably. The proximity of iron was negated completely, meaning the only option to reveal her human form was physical contact with either iron or silver. To make matters worse, the gigantic plume of fog that made up the massive wolf version acted much like her mist form; it could separate, twist and turn, or dissipate entirely and come together somewhere else, except this time the 'mist' was corporeal- any glancing blow was a solid hit. Couple the indefinite wolf-like form with added speed, reaction time, and strength made the legendary creature all but invincible. In short, the eastern duo had no way of combating her.

"Duck!" Hinata yelled, Byakugan observing a rush of furry mist flying towards them.

Naruto swung three tails behind the blue-haired Hyuuga; two to act as a shield and one to hook her around the waist and pull her out of the way. The instant afterwards brought the mist dissolving against the energy appendages and flowing around it, redirecting itself in a frantic attempt to touch any flesh. Uzi stabbed at the thick fog with Sasuke's sword and caused the haze to spiral away and return to the advancing form of the misty she-wolf.

The lupus, breaking from its great stride, leapt forward in a sudden surge of haste. The indeterminate mouth opened and turned inside out, spewing forth a heavy misty form of a woman in tan pants, a tattered overcoat, and thick leather boots. Silba charged forward, zigzagging through a salvo of Naruto's slicing airborne energy as the fog drifted out of her hazy form and flew forward to catch up. She suddenly split into several twirling pillars of opaque haze and flowed untouched through a second and third wave of the sharpened energy.

When her golden eyes became visible and the solid mist came together to form hair, the red-eyed easterner struck the stone tiles with his right arm. Energy crackled forth from his elongated tattoos onto the ground and shot forward with incredible speed. Silba decided to take this moment to break her enemy.

"_Not that this could hurt me in this form anyway,_" she thought as several beams of jagged chakra passed harmlessly through the dense fog, barely disturbing the mist. She quickly formulated her next move as the final column of piercing energy moved against her. "_Let this pass through then I'll move through the cracks… SHIT!!_"

The final blade of red energy passed through the fog of her left shoulder and deposited what Silba failed to see in time; a tiny splinter of silver. Her body suddenly materialized and she plummeted backwards shrieking in pain. Extended exposure to silver was lethal to lycanthropes, but only because of the pain it induced. As the miniscule hunk of metal caused an incredible burning sensation that spread with her shoulder being the epicenter, she frantically clawed the field surgeon pack on her belt and yanked loose a long set of sharp medical pliers. Amidst her involuntary convulsions and cursing, she stabbed the tool into her shoulder, clamped down on the offending object, pulled it free, then tossed it and the tool to the side. Desperately trying to slow her rapid breathing, she stood to her feet while pounding the stone wall and floor in an attempt to distract herself from the dissipating pain.

Hinata was in her face before the she-wolf even noticed. The Hyuuga struck the smoking wound to further aggravate the lycanthrope. The silver-haired soldier scooted back on her feet, clutching her shoulder and screaming with newfound pain. The white-eyed easterner was just in reach of Silba's extended leg, so she leaned forward and tapped a finger on her opponent's knee. It instinctively shot up and grazed her chin as she pulled back, but it was much weaker than it should have been, and the golden-eyed woman's face portrayed her newest discomfort in the action.

Naruto flew forward to intercept the soldier woman. She retreated, but only in her normal mist form. "_The pain must have put a drain on her,_" Uzi thought. He thumbed an iron knife he pulled off a dead vampire and launched it at her. The haze twirled to avoid the blade but was foiled as a second iron projectile thrown by the blue-haired woman flew over her, phasing her back into corporeal form. She was frozen for only a moment before attempting to revert to the relative safety of her mist, but that moment was all Uzumaki needed.

He slammed her in the chest with the razor tattooed hand, unleashing a barrage of slicing energy onto her before she could embrace her hazy form. She did so before the energy cut too deeply and scaled a cathedral-like wall with as much haste as she could muster. Naruto utilized his tails as spider legs and gave chase with Hinata following closely behind.

Her Byakugan active, she had been taking a good look at that second chakra network that resided within Silba whenever she was in human form. It was small, yet she was slowly realizing what it really was. "_Does she know this?_" the Hyuuga woman wondered as she observed the vertical battle.

------------------------

The back and forth game of cat and mouse between Silba and the eastern duo went on for a few more hours. Since the she-wolf's silver induced injury, the moon was hidden behind the clouds, never to fully unveil itself for the rest of the night. As a consequence, the golden-eyed soldier was unable to transform into her solid haze wolf version. The energy required to do so without the mystical powers of the moon were too much for her, especially in her current condition.

She felt sick to her stomach. It was both annoying and unnerving, as she couldn't focus completely on the battle at hand and was being hindered during combat by nausea. She had no idea why her status was in such poor shape, but that wasn't her first and foremost worry.

She leapt to the side on their current parapet to dodge an energy whip. Her situation was becoming more and more grim. Lycanthropes were strong, but she wasn't nearly strong enough to take on Uzi if this battle was allowed to continue any further. To her unpleasant surprise, his endurance was far superior to her own.

Naruto launched a set of iron blades dipped in wolfsbane towards her. She dropped to the ground and reverted to mist, staying as low to the ground as possible. Silver wasn't instantly lethal to her kind, but wolfsbane was damn close. As soon as the barrage passed she came together and leapt back, hurling her combat knife towards the red-eyed blonde. He caught it by the hilt and she tried to retrieve it by reeling in the wires she had recently acquired and wound around the handle, but Uzi twirled the wire around his right arm, energy tattoos protecting the limb against any possible injury.

Silba steeled herself against her exhaustion and rose up, yanking back on the wires hard enough to cause the blonde easterner to stumble as his grip was loosened and the metal wiring was unbound from his arm, slicing it open in long smooth cuts. She bolted forward, grasped her returning knife, and continued onward to drive the blade into Naruto. She noticed through the opening in his energy appendages that his right arm was smoking. "_His wounds are healing!!_" She did not cut off her attack upon this realization, however. She burst into mist and retreated when she saw his azure and crimson eyes burning brighter than usual.

She landed on an outcropping on the wall a good fifty feet from the easterner. She didn't know what the brighter red eyes signified, but red-eyes always seemed more… coordinated when such a thing occurred. She began to eye her surroundings carefully for a surprise attack.

Hinata forced the she-wolf to move when she launched a series of silver needles at her. Silba dodged to her right back onto the outdoor walkway, picking up a gun she saw partially hidden underneath a fallen lycanthrope. She raised the pistol and took aim at the nearby Hyuuga, squeezing the trigger ever so slightly…

Her attack was instantly halted as a salvo of chains suddenly appeared from her peripheral vision and surrounded her. She burst into haze and attempted to move through the grid like pattern created by the metal links, but upon coming into close proximity with them, she reverted back to human form. "_Iron!!_" she realized with overwhelming dread as the chains successfully bound her to the stone wall.

"Vahre Blus," Naruto turned to the owner of the iron links, "Thanks for the help!"

"Not a problem," replied the vampiric red-eye. He had no apparent wounds but was drenched with blood nonetheless. He threw the ends of his chains to the ground and they fused to the stone, locking the golden-eyed woman in place. "She's caused a lot of problems for us." With that, he turned and leapt off the bridge, leaving his eastern friend to deal with the invasion's leader.

"Now, _Silba_," Uzi approached the defeated she-wolf, cracking his knuckles, "Looks like you're down for the count."

She didn't bother to respond. She lowered her head in submission to whatever punishment lay ahead.

The blonde red-eye sighed and plucked the werewolf's knife from the ground. "Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you'll just give up and go home." He strode up to the silver-haired soldier, wielding the knife with a saddened look on his face. He lifted the blade into the air, preparing to strike. "I'm sorry you went through all this shit, but life isn't always fair," he said calmly before he brought the blade down.

Silba's world slowed. Tears formed in her eyes as her vision narrowed in on the sharpened metal hurling towards her. She was afraid, but not for her life. She was terrified because she felt nothing. She shut her eyes and lowered her head to ease her mind before death. She could feel the air being displaced by the blade brush against the back of her neck…

"Stop!!" Hinata pierced the eerie calm with a rushed voice.

Everything went still. Naruto held the blade mere inches from the lycanthrope's bowed head, staring wide-eyed at the Hyuuga woman. "What?! What is it?!" He inquired warily.

"Do you have to kill her?"

He looked at her with confusion. "She's not gonna stop if I don't. It's the only way…"

"Yeah but…" The blue-haired woman looked sympathetically at the kneeling chained woman. "She's pregnant…"

Uzi's blue and red eyes blinked wide and Silba's head shot up.

"She's what?!" He shouted in surprise.

"I'm what?!" Silba also yelled in bewilderment.

* * *

Erm... not much to say here really... I wanted this chapter to be longer, but I was gettin' tired after several hours (yielding unsatisfactory progress, I might add), so I called it here.

This 'arc' (if you could call my short-ass chapters arcs) is almooooost complete. Just one more chapter will wrap up Silba's story, and it'll be on to...

THE FINAL ARC!!! Dun Dun Duuuuuuuun!

Yep, I got one more arc and at least one more awesome surprise in tow for this storyline. In fact, this surprise is so freakishly awesome that I almost shed a tear when I came up with it... just so you know...

Don't worry, though, the last arc will be muuuch longer. At least five times longer (no joke). I'll let ya'll chew on that for a bit.

Well, catch ya'll later!


	30. Uninspired Chapter Title!

Hmm... more stuff than I intended. Oh, well, benefits all of you.

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. You're an idiot if you think I do.

Warning: swearing ahead (especially the second to last line).

* * *

Naruto was dumbstruck. "_I almost executed a pregnant woman?_" he reflected inwardly. The thought alone made him anxious.

Silba, however, seemed to forget the fact she was shackled. "Really?" she asked Hinata. "Really?! I am?!" She smiled as wide as her lips could stretch, tears of joy flowing from her eyes. "_Thank you, Günsche…_" she took comfort in the fact that she now had a remnant of her deceased lover.

Her joy died when she turned back to Uzi, who merely glared at her with indecision. The smile on her face melted away like her body in the mist when she saw that the red-eyed blonde was still considering the forced ending of her life a viable option. Her tears of gratitude transformed into the weeping of sorrow and desperate groveling.

"Please, _please_ don't kill me!!" She begged at the top of her lungs, or at least as high as her voice could reach through her whimpering. "I'll go away!! I'll go away and never come back!!" she pleaded. "I'll leave and never bother you again, just please don't kill me!!" She bowed her head and continued her pleads incoherently, her vocal chords drowned in tears and sobbing.

Naruto stood resolute, but was debating his next course of action in his mind. "_Why is my life so full of drama?_" he sighed. "_Why couldn't I have been born the son of a farmer or something? But what do I do with her? She's a soldier, so dying on a battlefield is something she should accept as a possibility. On top of that, she led the attack against us and caused plenty of casualties, so she should bear the consequences of losing. Then again…_"

"_**What are you thinking?**_" boomed a voice behind the eastern duo. They instantly turned to face the voice's owner.

"Sünden!" Hinata exclaimed with a touch of fright.

"Master Sünden!" Uzi also voiced his surprise towards the progenitor red-eye. "What's wrong?! Is the seal dying?!"

"_**That's not the issue here, boy!**_" replied the original master. The top half of his skull was engulfed in the perfect darkness of the inky ebony smoke. His eyes were yellow dots within the void of the black burning cloud and his voice had become guttural and seethed with malevolent authority. "_**What are you thinking of doing?**_"

"Uh..." the blonde easterner struggled to choose his next words carefully. "This… this is Silba," he gestured to the bound soldier who wore a horrified expression. "She's the leader of the lycanthropes that attacked us and…"

"_**I know that!**__**What were you planning to do with her?**_"

"I- I was thinking of executing her for…"

"_**Then why did you hesitate?**_"

"I… uh…" Naruto's voice failed him due to the pressure exuded from his powerful master.

"She's pregnant…" Hinata stepped in to cover for the blonde red-eye. "I'm the one who noticed and brought it up."

"_**I see…**_" the eyes in the smoke glanced at the blue-haired Hyuuga. "_**And this has made you…**_" he upturned his arm and pointed at the blonde, silhouetted smoke drifting from under the belted limb. "_**Reconsider your actions?**_"

Naruto swallowed hard. Master Sünden was clearly in control of his power, but he was never predictable when releasing it. "Yes," he responded with resolve. "I'm not sure what to do."

The original red-eye's lips cracked to form a light smile. "_**Very well, but consider this:**_" His thunderous voice assumed a calm tone. "_**The very nature of being a red-eye is having a second chance, regardless of how one has lived in the past. When you were first discovered by the Agran brothers, you had already taken the lives of many innocents. Yet you were shown mercy and given another shot at life; had your slate wiped clean. Remember this…**_" With that, Sünden turned and casually strode into the entrance of the nearest tower, dark smoke burning itself away.

The eastern duo sighed in relief. As soon as the progenitor specialist left their sight, they refocused their attention to the chained Silba. Uzi knelt in front of the prone woman and jammed the blade into the ground near her knee.

"Alright, listen," he ordered. The she-wolf's tear stained eyes locked with his. "I'm going to let you live on onecondition," he emphasized his words carefully. She nodded obediently. "You are going to call off your lycanthropes, leave this place, and _never_ bother us again. And I do mean never. Am I understood?"

"Yessir, yessir," she bobbed her head up and down, eyes wide with relief and shock as she clearly and quickly voiced her coherence of his orders.

"Good," he replied coolly. "Now get moving," he commanded as he sliced the chains with his sharpened tattoos.

--------------------------

Silba followed through on the blonde's command. She had ordered what was left of her werewolf regiment to surrender and was marching out the front gate with her soldiers. Before she exited the gate, though, she turned to face Uzi.

"Peace offering," she said simply, bowing her head and raising her scratched combat blade up to him.

"_Lycanthropes are strange…_" the blonde thought as he accepted the offering. The she-wolf immediately fell back in line with her troops.

Hinata watched the scene with a twinge of happiness in her heart. Despite being an enemy, she was glad things turned out well for the pregnant woman. "_I don't know werewolves very well, but my gut says she'll stay true to her word…_" She pondered, not noticing the massive form that broke formation to approach her.

She was startled when the overcoat-clad soldier suddenly shot his arm forward. Her Byakugan instinctively activated and she almost struck the man when she noticed he was holding a tan woolen ammo bag with a familiar gun hastily strapped to the front.

She recognized the massive firearm. "Wait, you're… Hans… right?"

The mythical soldier with an upturned collar nodded silently and straightened his arm, easing his weapon and ammunition towards the Hyuuga.

She hesitantly grasped the strap. "Is this a… peace offering?" she inquired, assuming this was the same gesture she had witnessed between Naruto and Silba.

Once again, the large man merely dipped his head. As soon as the strap left his hands, he continued his march out the main gate of the vampiric stronghold.

The white-eyed easterner shouldered the pouch with the intent of analyzing the weapon and its ordinance later. "_Damn, this thing's heavy!_" she thought as the strap weighed her down. She strode up to the blonde red-eye and stood by his side as the last of the defeated werewolf soldiers exited the fortress and gradually disappeared over the crest of the artificial crater.

Naruto turned to his blue-haired companion when he suddenly heard his name called out.

"Uzi!" Silba yelled from the top of the ridge. "One last thing!"

"What?!" he shouted back.

"I was in Hive City! I was ordered to collect a sample of the Agende Vhansin tattoo ink and I did! I don't know why the king wanted it, but he has it now!" With that, she cleared the manmade hill and was gone from their sight.

The runaway duo continued to gaze at the horizon, turning the she-wolf's final words over in their minds. "The energy ink?" Uzi exclaimed quietly. "Why would they want that?"

"Dunno," the Hyuuga woman replied. "Can't be good, though."

"Won't argue there…" He turned to the white-eyed woman and smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing," he claimed, smile still alive and well. He glanced at the massive vampire castle behind them. "There's gonna be a delay, so let's go rest up for now."

She smiled back. "Yeah, sounds good."

As the two strolled back into the battle-ravaged stronghold, they were lost in their own thoughts.

Naruto was content for once. In a strange way, the attack had helped him clear his head and solidify his decision. "_It might be a naïve way of thinking,_" he observed inwardly, "_But I'll keep her safe until I die._" He discreetly eyed the Hyuuga walking next to him. "_After all, there are no guarantees in life anyway. May as well make the best of it while I can._"

Hinata's thoughts were of similar material. "_I never quite knew what would happen from here on out, but I'll stick with it. At least I'll always have something to live for…_"

--------------------------

Sünden sat on his bed, plagued by a searing pain that refused to dissipate quickly. "Shouldn't have used it so damn much," he spoke to no one in particular as he clutched his burning seal.

"You want some more painkillers, Master Sünden?" asked Vahre Blus with a hint of worry in his voice.

"No thanks my boy," he coughed. "Drugs can't solve this. You know that."

The vampire apprentice shrugged. He wouldn't show it, but it pained him to see his master in such unquenchable torture.

"On another note," Sünden winced, trying to change the subject as his eyes glowed bright crimson. "You notice that?"

The Zersvampirie leader ignited his eyes in turn. "Yes. I've been noticing it for the past few days."

"What do you think of it?"

"I'm… not certain. It's different, to be sure, but… I can't tell why."

"You too, eh?" He coughed violently, this time a miniscule trickle of blood running from the corner of his lips. "What do you think we should do about it?"

"I do not sense it to be malevolent, so I don't _think_ it will be an issue, but there is no way to know until it breaks free."

"_If_ it breaks free," the progenitor specialist corrected his apprentice. "There's a chance it will never see the light of day."

"Then again it may, and then it will _cause_ the light of day."

Sünden chuckled through the pain. "True, true. We should have Daemon and Nephil, maybe even Geist, take a look. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds like a plan," Vahre Blus agreed before turning to leave the room. He opened the door and looked back. "Rest for now, Master Sünden. We'll be leaving the next morning." He shut the door and left the ailing man in solitude.

The original red-eye shut his eyes to sleep his torment away. "_It's too bad I won't be around to see what happens. These crimson eyes seem to create more problems than solutions at times. Sometimes… I wish I never created it at all…_"

"_**Oh, but it's so much fun!!**_" replied a chorus of voices in his mind as a new surge of pain coursed through the dying man's body.

--------------------------

"Lorsvall!" echoed an irate voice in the massive chamber of pillars of the imperial throne room.

"Yes, my lord?" replied a submissive voice from the shadows of the throne.

"I thought you said Silba would be enough…"

"Ehe… It appears… that I was wrong, your highness…" he replied nervously. Now was the time to appease the tyrant king's ego rather than be as informal as the second in command usually was.

"Wrong, indeed! I've lost an entire regiment thanks to your assumptions! And now all the red-eyes are going to march against the capital!"

"Ah… well, sir, it appears your troops in the south are doing rather well. That takes out about a fourth of their fighting force…"

"I don't care about that!" the ruler shouted. "I'm pissed that I placed my faith in your poor judgment! How do you plan on fixing that?!"

"Well, sir, I… do have some excellent generals under me. They're all specialists of the highest caliber with some exceptional abilities…"

"You're not sending them out, if that's what you're suggesting."

"Of… of course not, sir! You're the king! It's your decision!"

"Right," the tyrant sighed heavily. He took a moment to calm his raging temper. "All attempts to kill Uzi or anyone of any importance on the outside have failed. We can't afford to loose anyone else before they make their move against us. We're staying here."

Lorsvall bowed deeply. "As you wish, my lord."

"You've been an excellent commander despite your latest bungle, so I'm sending you in with the second line of defense when they get here."

"My black squadron?"

"Is there any other commander capable of ordering them around?"

"Yes, sir!" the shadowed lackey saluted.

"Now hide. We have some… emissaries from the south who are here to… negotiate. I'm sure you can use a few more hands in your ranks."

"Yes, sir," the second in command hid behind his usual place; behind the massive throne. As he settled into his moderately comfortable felt chair, he thought, "_Stupid old fuck. It was your idea to send in troops to kill Uzi off in the first place! Why're you gettin' all pissy at me about it?!_ _Once I take care of Uzi and the rest of the red-eyes, you're next!_"

* * *

What could the tyrant want with the specialized Agende Vhansin tattoo energy ink?!

What on earth are Sunden and Vahre Blus discussing?!

And what could be going on Lorsvall's head?!

Find out tomorrow (a blatant lie) on the next episode of 'Lost'!!!

(Always wanted to say that.) On another note, I tried to write up Silba as a pitiable, unstable character. Judging from most of the reviews I got, I did just that. If you think otherwise, tell me!! Then tell me what you think I could have done better!! Please!

Catchya'll later.


	31. A Whole Lotta Nuthin!

W00t. Longest chapter yet. If you paid attention to the title you should have figured out just how action packed this chapter is (wink).

Enjoy.

the usual disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything to do with him. How incredibly sad...

* * *

After the eastern duo had showered up and scarfed down a cold meal they went to sleepfor the day. It had been a rough night and early morning, and they were exhausted. As they slept in their now usual embrace, their dreams remained mostly benign.

Uzi was in his all-too-familiar flooded cell block in front of his tenant's cage. This part of being a red-eye was one of the few drawbacks for him, as possessing the crimson eyes tended to make one introspective at all times, especially when during sleep.

Hinata on the other hand was having a pleasant slumber-induced illusion. She opened her pearly eyes to find herself standing on a hill of smooth, flowing grass. All around her sat rolling plains that seemed to shift as the grass moved with the wind. She strode forward in this new world on a barely worn footpath that would not have been noticed otherwise by those without the Byakugan towards one of the few humble oak trees that dotted the landscape. She peered at the sky and felt at ease as the billowing white clouds drifted effortlessly through the brilliant azure sky. Only one thing could have made the scene more perfect…

After what seemed to be several hours of merely strolling through the dreamscape did the Hyuuga woman find something out of place in this serene atmosphere. After cresting a particularly large hill, she peered into the horizon and noticed storm clouds in the distant sky. The odd thing about them was that even though they looked like sky-born water vapor that held excess moisture, they did not act as such. Upon closer inspection with bloodline eyes, she saw that the land underneath was cast in a dark shadow. "_It looks too dark…_" she thought as she observed the exaggerated contrast between the cast shadows and the sun's rays.

"_Wait, it's cloudy here. There's no sun shining through,_" she realized as she scanned the sky for the orbital star that illuminated the world. At this point she began to panic. Why was the ground so dark? Why was there no sun to be found? Why were the trees in the shadows barren as opposed to their cousins in the light? These questions as well as many more coursed through her mind in an instant as the ominous sky advanced at an alarming rate. She calmed her breathing and closed her eyes to regain her composure. When she opened them and glanced down at herself, she made another realization no less unusual or alarming than what was transpiring before her.

"_Why am I glowing?!_"

Hinata jolted awake as her peaceful dream looked to be a promising nightmare. She noticed that her breaths were short and swift and that her sudden movement had awoken the blonde holding her in his arms.

"What's up?" Naruto asked groggily.

"Nothing," she answered tersely.

"Nightmare?"

"Yeah… yeah."

"'S okay." He leaned his head forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Go back to sleep."

She replied with a silent nod then buried her head in his warm chest. She was happy that her bad dream earned her affection from the object of her interest. The Hyuuga drifted back into slumber with fewer cares in the world.

"_But is this really a dream?_" asked a whisper of a voice not her own in her sleepy state before she nodded off completely.

--------------------------

As promised, the vampire household moved out the following morning. It was an amazing sight to Hinata and Sasuke's group, but Uzi acted as if he'd seen it every day. As the easterners strode in line with the legendary creatures who, amazingly enough, were not allergic to daylight, the Hyuuga decided to analyze the weapon Hans passed on to her.

She lifted the pistol and was amazed at the mere size of it. It was as long as her forearm and appeared as a solid worn block of steel attached to a grip and trigger guard. She pulled back the foot long slide to critique the innards of the gun and found the barrel could easily accommodate her middle finger and still have it not touch the sides.

After a few minutes of fiddling with the firearm, she slid it back into its hasty straps and opened the ammo bag to check out its munitions. She found every clip save one to be fully loaded along with a healthy reserve of boxed ammunition in a side pocket. She pulled out one round and found it to be a solid slug with a diameter larger than her finger.

"Geez! No wonder he only fired a few shots," she exclaimed. "This thing can only hold a few rounds each!"

Naruto looked over to his blue-haired companion and saw her newest weapon. "Where'd you get that?"

"Oh, that Hans guy gave it to me."

"Hans…?"

"That lycanthrope Silba ordered to shoot us. You know, the one who made you stumble even though you had the chakra shield up?"

"Him?!" He shouted in surprise. "Why'd he do that?!"

She shrugged. "I dunno. Why did Silba give you that knife?"

He glanced at the blade strapped to his right boot. "Oh, yeah. 'Peace offering', right?"

"Yep."

He scratched his cheek as he thought. "Must be a werewolf thing."

"Hey Naruto," Suigetsu yelled from behind them. "You kill that Silba chick?"

He looked back in annoyance. "No. She surrendered."

"That's boring. I woulda had some fun before taking her out."

"That's 'cause you're a twisted sick…"

"Let it go…" Hinata intervened, placing a hand on Uzi's shoulder.

He faced forward again and pouted, mumbling mostly incoherent things after audible muttering, "Damn friggin' nutjobs following me around…"

The Hyuuga turned her head away when she lost the battle against her laughter.

--------------------------

The group split off from the vampiric hordes after crossing the border back into Uzi's country. Over the next few days the easterners ran into more and more red-eyes. It was obvious to any bystander that something big was going down.

They moved at a much quicker pace this time due to the fact that they were getting rides from the local rebels. Even the non-red-eye resistance was rising to the surface in full force; a testament to how thinly spread the military was. It took them only a few days to traverse southward to a makeshift stronghold located in the small town of Shasta, several dozen miles directly south of the capital city.

On the outside it was a simple ramshackle town. People went about their business, or at least as normally as they could without the presence of an official police force. Red-eyes openly walked the streets without consequence, bands of uniformed men let their attire hang loose as they hopped the bars, equipment was being moved into small buildings but never coming out.

Naruto and his eastern followers made their way into one of these small buildings. They entered without being thoroughly checked and the Hyuuga immediately understood why no equipment left the facilities.

The structures were actually openings to a labyrinth of underground tunnels. It was difficult to tell, but the well-built elaborate network seemed to sprout to the north for miles on end. Crates of weapons, ammunition, and other miscellaneous gear lined the walls and were slowly being picked clean as passing red-eye specialists loaded up on what they deemed necessary or fitted them to vehicles. As the eastern group passed by the lines of containers, they were met with salutes, approving nods, or otherwise acknowledging gazes.

"Naruto," Hinata began, "Where are we going?"

"Living quarters," he stated simply.

"Down here?"

"Under the storage area," he pointed down.

"Even deeper?"

He turned to her with a playful smirk. "Oh yeah."

They made their way deeper into the human hive and eventually hit the residency area. As soon as they arrived in the dimly lit main lobby they were met with a pair of familiar, friendly voices.

"Uzi!" Trench and Shades called simultaneously.

"What's up guys?" the blonde said with a sheepish smile forming on his face.

"Not a whole hell of a lot!" Trench began. "What about you? We heard about that fiasco out east. You guys got caught in that shit, right?!"

"Yeah…"

"How'd you do?" Shades interrupted, addressing Hinata more than Uzi.

"Er…" the white-eyed woman was mildly uncomfortable in the spotlight. "We beat them…"

"Yeah, but how was the fight?!" Shades obviously wanted all the juicy details.

"Hey, hey," Trench intervened. "Let's talk about this over dinner and some drinks. You guys came a long ways in a short time, right? I'm sure you wanna sit and pig out first!"

"Uh…" the eastern couple mumbled as the western duo led them to said meal. As before, they conversed for several hours before breaking for sleep.

--------------------------

The remainder of the week brought more equipment, vehicles, and red-eyes to the town and its related tunnels. Before long there was an army of the western specialists residing in the artificial hive. It was clear; the final move was drawing near.

The blue-haired woman was on her way back to her bunk from one of the numerous mess halls when she passed a troupe of red-eyed soldiers carrying some familiar firearms. She decided to take a look at some of the newer shipments of weaponry that had been coming in recently. She made her way to the upper levels, found an open crate, and pulled one of the odd rifles from its foam holder.

"Well this looks familiar…" she claimed with a grin as she looked over the series of interconnected shafts and angular pods that vaguely resembled a gun. The design, had she not seen it before at the Raver's weapons factory in Roventia, practically screamed of his style. The many azure-tinted metallic components were somehow attached in the most complicated of ways, and the fact that all these rods, shafts, and pods were even solidly held together seemed to be an impossibility.

"You like it?" Shades asked as she popped out of nowhere.

"Yes!" the Hyuuga yelped as she turned around. "It looks cool, but what's so special about it?"

"Well here's how it works…" she explained. "This gun converts electric energy and friction into a charge and streamlines it with its ammunition." She ejected a barrel from its spiraling magazine and pulled out an elongated sharpened pin. "This," she held the tiny needle up, "Is the ammo. It's inserted into this… somehow…" She hesitantly turned the rifle over, unsure of the exact mechanics of it all. "And is magnetically shot out with the energy charge using it as its source. Pretty cool, huh?!"

"You bet," the white-eyed easterner agreed while eyeing the futuristic rifle. "Is this what you've been delivering?"

"Yeah, that and the freak family's drug…"

"Who's family is a freak?" asked a sarcastic scratchy voice. The surprised friends swung around to find its owner.

"Sanshatav!" Shades exclaimed when she recognized the younger Agende Vhansin.

"So glad you think so highly of my family…" he replied with his wide creepy eyes staring her down. "Shades…"

"S- Sorry, man," she apologized apprehensively. "It's just that it's a real pain to say 'Agende Vhansin' every time, you know?" She tried to play off her insult and failed miserably.

"Right…" the younger specialist responded. His eyes shifted to Hinata and his wide smile came to life. "Lady Hinata! Do you know where Lord Uzi is?"

"Yeah," she said hesitantly, slightly taken aback by the title. "I was just heading back now to meet him. I could show you where…"

"Excellent!" he interrupted with a snort of glee. He turned to Shades with his freakish eyes and toothy smile. "Thanks for spreading our 'instinct juice' around. We've really gotten some good refinement on it since. Be seeing you around!"

"Uh, right! See you guys later!" Shades waved as the two made their way down to the living quarters.

The other red-eyes seemed to either avoid or respect the western cannibal as he strode alongside the white-eyed easterner.

"Uh… Sanshatav, was it?" Hinata attempted to strike up a conversation.

"Yes, my Lady?"

"Yeah, about that… What's with the title?"

"Ah, well, you're quite famous at this point. After all, you do travel with Lord Uzi these days, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, there you have it!" He grinned widely at her. "Lord Uzi's a legend amongst my family, so now that you're with him, the White Eyes of Death is becoming even more well known."

"And why do you call him 'Lord'?"

"Ah, he was announced as the next master since we last met, correct?"

"Oh, right," she recalled the last time she was in Hive City. "So what're you here for?"

"I got promoted since the battle of Hive City!"

"Congrats. What are you now?"

"I'm an emissary and a pack leader!"

"_Pack leader?_" she thought. "_What the hell is that?_" She decided not to delve any further.

"Hinata," Naruto spoke as he approached her. "I've been lookin' for you. Who's this?"

"Lord Uzi!" Sanshatav stood at attention. "I am an emissary of the Agende Vhansin, Sanshatav Agende Vhansin. I am here to inform you of…"

"Tell you what," he interrupted and held up a finger. "Want some food?"

The cannibal's face lit up. "Of course! Thank you sir!"

"_Oh, thank God,_" he mused inwardly. "_That'll keep him mostly quiet for a while…_"

--------------------------

"So what's your purpose here, Sanshatav?"

The frightening specialist looked up while taking a bite out of a hunk of raw meat. "Ah! I'm here to accompany you into battle."

"On whose orders?"

"I was ordered to do so by Master Sanvatas. My pack has already taken residence on the surface."

"Okaaaay," Naruto replied apprehensively. "You could have told me that by the red-eyes…"

"True," his face lit up as he explained himself. "But I wanted to tell my future master in person!"

"_Fascinating,_" Hinata thought while she silently observed the odd and slightly awkward conversation. "_Are all Agende Vhansins this loyal? Or are they stupid?_" she mentally added with a giggle.

"You have any news on the invasion in the south?" the blonde easterner inquired of his yellow and red-eyed admirer.

Sanshatav's usual overly excited mood sunk. "It's not going too well. Lady Sheila and the Agran brothers are… suppressed?"

"Ugh, I was afraid of that. What's going on exactly, do you know?"

"Not much," he shook his head. "All I know is that the majority of the military was ordered south. The rest are holing up at the capital."

"What about the rest of the country?"

"What do you mean?"

"The military acted as the police force in most of the country. What happened to that?"

The younger Agende Vhansin laughed. "There _are_ no police! They all left with the army pulling out!"

"Wait," the Hyuuga broke her silence. "So there's no authority right now?"

"That's correct, my Lady. Our so called 'leader' has left our homeland vulnerable to attack on every front."

"All in favor of saving his own ass," Uzi added. He decided to change the subject. "I appreciate you taking a stand by my side, especially since we're spread a little thin here on the southern flank. I take it you know when we move out?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Naruto's face portrayed his appreciation for the loyal ally. "Alright, you get rested up with your… pack. Get ready for the battle."

The cannibal's eyes opened as wide as possible and his smile stretched from ear to ear. "Yes, sir!" With that, the freakish red-eye left Uzi alone with the blue-haired Hyuuga.

Uzi sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He looked over to his white-eyed companion and saw her new rifle propped up next to her. "New gun, eh?"

"Yeah. Gotta stock up, you know?"

He chuckled under his breath. "Ready to hit the hay? We got a big day tomorrow."

She returned his smile as she stretched. "You bet. Let's go."

As the two cuddled up together in the small cot in the large subterranean barracks, the pair couldn't help but blush as they verbally retaliated the other red-eyes' playful taunting.

"Hey Uzi! One last go at it, eh?!"

"Go White Eyes! Show him what we girls can do!"

"Keep it down! I wanna get some sleep tonight!"

"Don't break a bone if you fall off!"

"Will you _shut up_!!" The eastern pair shouted at everyone before they were left alone to drift into slumber.

* * *

Remember my old art challenge? Good. Remember my due date for it? January 3rd? Great.

I may have to move my own due date back, and here's why: I had a crappy day yesterday. In the span of three hours my xbox 360 _and_ my laptop crashed... _again_. My laptop was the only computer in this house that had Photoshop (or any kind of art program whatsoever), so that may push me back. It all depends on how long it takes me to get my hands on a copy of Photoshop for my mom's rarely used laptop. I'm using it right now. It's sooooo much nicer than my old POS. (If you didn't understand that abbreviation, it means something bad)

Anyways, I'll be able to determine whether or not I'll move the due date back within the next couple of updates. Sorry to anyone who was real anxious, but at least you just got some more time! Partay!

Catchya round.


	32. Hammer Time! Du Du Du Duuu!

Er... not too long or the beginning of the action as I'd hoped, but now there's nothing left _but _action! So rejoice, for the time is drawing near!

Oh, yeah. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanuka! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Any-other-holiday-I'm-forgetting-unless-you're-an-atheist-then-in-which-case-it's-Happy-'Winter-Break'! Now go eat and spend time with your family!

No, seriously. Close your internet browser and go eat dinner and unwrap presents with your family. Unless you already did that, in which case: Enjoy!

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Maybe Santa can bring me the rights to the franchise... (keeps fingers crosses)

* * *

That night, Hinata dreamt of the peaceful landscape with no sun again. However, this time a vast majority of the rolling hills were covered by an unnaturally dark shadow. The once green flowing grass and swaying vibrant oaks now laid in brown stiff patches and gangly tangles of dead branches within the absence of light. Whatever was left in the confines of the apparently nonexistent sun was illuminated from a sole source- the Hyuuga herself.

She immediately realized that this had to be more than a dream, seeing as she had experienced such unusual scenes within Naruto's mental prison. She decided to take the proverbial leap of faith and planted a foot in the encroaching shadow caused by the rainless storm clouds. As if the pressure of her appendage was a command, the darkened atmosphere parted just enough to allow the tuft of grass around her foot to suddenly become illuminated and miraculously regain life.

"_Weird…_" she thought. She looked up and saw a dead and decaying tree roughly twenty feet from her. She strode toward it with careful steps, observing her feet as the grass beneath would glow as if in the rays of the sun and return to the land of the living. She reached the tree and gently brushed it with the tips of her fingers. She watched in amazement as the artificial sunlight spread across the entire tree, bringing forth healthy limbs and budding leaves. She looked up at the sky to see that every minute place she passed through was brilliantly lit through sharp gaps in the darkened clouds. It was then that she thought she heard something in the wind. She paused and focused all her attention on her sense of hearing.

It sounded like thousands of voices whispering in the calm wind. The blue-haired woman strained to hear anything specific to no avail. The whispers were scattered and incoherent individual vocalized noises about every subject under the sun. As she continued her struggle to hear something, she suddenly heard a slightly louder voice mumble, "Hinata, wake up. Places to go…"

She obeyed the voice and her eyes creaked open to find Uzi's azure and crimson eyes staring intently into her lavender eyes. "Wake up Hinata," he said in a low voice to avoid waking the other slumbering red-eyes. "We got places to go."

The eastern woman paused inwardly as the familiar words registered in her mind. She sat up and stretched in the rickety cot as a red-eyed soldier brushed quietly past the duo. She shook the sleep from her eyes, gathered her various weaponry, and followed Naruto out of the subterranean barracks.

After a bit of walking and an underground tram ride, they reached an auditorium of sorts. The seats were lined up in a semicircle with a makeshift digital screen and its corresponding equipment piled up on the central stage. The two took a seat while the rest of the seats were filled by what appeared to be higher ups in the red-eye infrastructure, but that fact was difficult to determine by outward appearances alone.

The screen crackled to life and Sünden's grinning face appeared amidst the static. "Good morning everyone," his voice sounded off from the hastily assembled stereo system. The progenitor specialist's red eyes burned brightly. "I see all the squad leaders and other such commanders are present, like I asked."

Hinata leaned over to Naruto and whispered, "If he wants all the big players, why am I here?"

He looked at her with surprise. "Are you serious? You're one of them now." He pointed to the screen and stopped her before she started again. "Now listen up. All this'll apply to you too."

"Now as you all know," Sünden continued, "We're all making our move today. The Agende Vhansin family will lead the western group and attack simultaneously with Daemon Laven and the demon slayers, who will assault the north. Hopefully those two groups will alleviate the pressure on the south and east side.

"After the north and west groups have engaged the enemy and redirected any noticeable attention, Uzi and the White Eyes of Death will lead the charge against the southern portion of the city. Once the security on the eastern side is refocused on the southern attack or when night falls, whichever comes first, the Zersvampirie family will advance on the east. If none of the previous advances overwhelm the military, the vampires will surely do so and ease any pressure on the other fronts."

As comical as it was, a hand was raised in the crowd as its owner put forward a question. "What'll you be doing, Master Sünden?"

Amazingly enough, the original red-eye turned in the screen towards the soldier and answered. "I'll be keeping my crimson eyes open and… offering my assistance wherever I can during the entire assault."

"Gotchya."

"Any other questions?" He was met with silence. "Alright. Be sure to relay the appropriate orders to your troops. You already know to work together, so be sure to coordinate with your brothers in arms. Hail to the king!"

"Hail!" replied every soldier in the room as the screen went dark. Immediately afterwards, the rows were steadily emptied as the red-eyes left to rendezvous with their respective squads.

"Hey Uzumaki," Karin asked out of the blue as the blonde walked past Sasuke's team in the back of the auditorium, "I thought you didn't support the current ruler?"

"We don't. We acknowledge the last king in his place."

The red-headed easterner shrugged, satisfied with the simple explanation.

The blue-haired Hyuuga frowned as she realized that she somehow already knew that despite wondering the same thing only moments ago. She attributed it to the adrenaline rush building up within her and dismissed it.

-----------------------

The easterners waited anxiously below the enormous automated lift. It had been a mere two hours since Sünden's message, yet every red-eye in the base was ready to go, each firearm was locked and loaded, and all vehicles and tanks were prepared to move out. The ground above them was settled on multiple enormous lifts that practically led to the gates of the capital, as the exits were situated a few miles away from the outskirts of the target city.

Apparently Daemon and his demon slayers initiated their attack and were closely followed by the Agende Vhansin family as soon as Sünden announced the general plan. The white-eyed woman glanced at the blonde red-eye and could actually hear his heart beating rapidly. She could sense the nervousness and excitement pouring out of him as his eyes flared crimson and returned to their usual glow.

"Hinata," he said as he turned to his eastern companion, "Just one thing before we do this." He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared intently into her eyes. "I've avoided getting close to anyone for all these years in case they should die on me. You're the first person whom I've gotten close to since I promised myself that, but I still kept you at a certain distance. If we survive after all this is over," his face flushed as he swallowed hard and stumbled over his next words, "Do you… want to… see… where this goes?"

She smirked during her response. "Of course, you blonde troublemaker." She placed her hands around his arms and pulled herself in to embrace him. She was pleasantly taken aback when he had other plans.

He pulled her in close, clasped the sides of her head in his hands, and kissed her softly. Hinata was surprised at the unprovoked public show of affection and surrendered herself to the passion shown by the blonde easterner. They reveled in the moment, ignoring the positive loud remarks and cheers of all the crimson-eyed soldiers watching them.

"Go Uzi!"

"Aww, ain't that cute?!"

"Take his heart, White Eyes!"

Even Sanshatav broke his silence to offer his (rather loud) two cents. "Sweet! A new Master _and_ Mistress!"

Uzi broke the kiss after a few more seconds and kept his longing gaze on her eyes. His smile widened and he jumped on top of the foremost platform, almost slamming his head on the retractable metal roof. He wielded his trademark firearm, eyes blazing brightly, and addressed everyone.

"It's about time for us to move out! You ready?!"

The massive army cheered.

"I didn't hear you! I said are you ready?!"

If it was possible, they cheered even louder.

The eastern red-eye raised his weapon above his head as the gigantic doors creaked to life and began to lift slowly, tearing apart the ground above them. "Hail to the king!"

"Hail!" they responded.

"For everything we've been through!"

The crowd roared.

"For the comrades we've lost!"

The uproar voiced their approval.

"For those we love!"

The red-eyed forces shouted at the top of their lungs. The atmosphere was choked with the scent of excitement and adrenaline.

The massive doors were now high enough for vehicles to pass. "Let's ride!"

The enthusiastic cheers were drowned out by the sound of engines and turbines roaring to life and beginning their advance towards the capital. Everyone's eyes were wide with motivation and seeming disillusionment over what they were about to embark upon. Even Hinata, despite her lifetime of keeping her feelings in check, marched forward by Naruto's side with the same tenacity as the specialist soldiers behind her.

It had all boiled down to this day. The final assault had begun.

* * *

Er... not much to say. Oh yeah! The art contest thingy will almost certainly be pushed back at this point. I just have to work out 'when'.

Catch ya'll on the flip side.


	33. Who Are You!

Enjoy your Christmas? I sure did! Slept in till two in the afternoon! Anyways, enjoy the next installment of 'Lost' in all the awesomeness that it is!

The usual disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and Santa didn't bring me the rights! (boo frickin' hoo)

Language Warning!! Some words not meant for the kiddies, but they'll read it anyway...

* * *

As Naruto led the advance of tanks, technicals, and red-eyes against the outermost line of the capital's defenses, he wasn't surprised that their enemies were on full alert. The first barrier between them and the city consisted of a series of deep trenches and concrete pillboxes.

Gunfire erupted from the honeycombed entrenchments and mini-bunkers. Every red-eyed soldier immediately took cover behind anything they could find; tanks, rocks, fallen trees and the like. Only a few that stood against the hail of bullets were capable of diverting the heated projectiles. Uzi faced forward steadfastly, energy tails stretched out in front of him as thinly as possible to provide adequate shielding over the largest area possible.

"Guys," the blonde red-eye addressed everyone by his side behind the shield, "Take aim and fire at will." With that command, he opened up tiny holes in the energy barrier large enough for his companions to fit the muzzles of their weapons through. They obeyed and returned a solid line of fire against the trenches. The unfortunate soldiers in the deep ditches fell like flies under the sustained fire as their smarter comrades ducked down into their connected foxholes.

"Move forward!" the blonde ordered as he strode forward, bringing his mobile shield with him. The specialists hustled forward to stay with their 'slots' and gunned down the soldiers hiding in the elongated forward trench. "Alright, we got a foothold!" Uzi yelled back at all the other crimson-eyed troops, signaling them to charge forward.

Naruto was suddenly thrown back violently as a shell impacted directly on his appendage shield. The specialists near the blast were killed instantly and the others were flung back as the barrier instinctively coiled around the blonde red-eye to protect him.

"Naruto!" Hinata called as she ran to her floored crush. She dropped to one knee when she reached him and placed a hand on his shoulder as he jolted up. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," he replied. "All troops keep going forward!"

The front line of specialists rushed past the duo, some stopping to return fire and protect their power player while the rest leapt down into the foremost trench and proceeded to move through the open-air tunnels.

Sanshatav stopped as his pack rushed by and glanced at Naruto with his jarring bloodline eyes. "My lord, leave the close quarters up to us! We're good at this!"

Uzi gazed at the pure white mask that covered the Agende Vhansin's face. The only way he knew it was Sanshatav was due to the sloppily-applied blood that was painted on the mask to form an exaggerated toothy smile. "Take the trenches, leave open ground to me!"

"I obey!" He loosed his worn elongated crescent-like sword and flew forward ahead of his pack, growling something that appeared to be a command of some sort. His familial followers fell into a loosened line behind him and charged into the darkened bunkers at the ends of the trenches. Guttural shrieks and screams ensued.

The blonde red-eye and his blue-haired companion were already on their feet, charging over the first trench in order to quickly reach the next fortified ditch. Naruto's energy tails swept large divots through the thick barbed wire and the Hyuuga fired her thirteen millimeter pistol at any soldier that thought to take aim at them. She emptied her entire clip; each shot a kill, and then ejected her clip to reload. She slammed the next magazine in when her crush glanced back at her.

"I need you to cover me," he said flatly. "I'm going to take out the bunkers and tanks. You'll be my eyes."

She nodded. "Got it," she confirmed his wishes as the next round was loaded into the chamber of her pistol. She slung the Raver's special rifle from her shoulder, took aim at a bunker, and fired a salvo of energy-induced needles at the slot. She heard screams and shouts for a medic and knew she neutralized it.

The eastern red-eye immediately leapt into action. He charged the tattoos in his left hand and struck it against the wind, letting loose a wave of slicing energy upon the pillbox, cutting it to pieces. He followed up his attack by forming a sharpened energy whip with his right arm and swung it down the line of enemies in the foxholes adjacent to the destroyed bunker. The unfortunate troops were cleaved in two by the jagged whip before it stuck into the concrete fortification at the other end. Naruto yanked on the whip and struck the ground behind him with a tail, causing him to fly towards the doomed target. He landed on its side and buried eight of the energy appendages into it, turning it into concrete Swiss cheese.

The Hyuuga activated her Byakugan and was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of chakra she saw flying around. She easily saw the harsh chakra of the cannibalistic Agende Vhansin family moving through the underground portions like water through pipes. She witnessed the militaristic red-eye specialists pumping incredible amounts of energy into their bullets, allowing the projectiles to easily rip through body armor and light vehicle armor. She hopped into a cleared foxhole and sensed something arcing through the sky towards them.

"Artillery! Take cover!" she yelled. As she ducked under some heavy planks, she noticed that many chakra signatures took similar action, heeding her warning. The ground shook and the air vibrated with thunderous noise as the shells impacted. Screaming and cries for medics could be heard between explosions, but the bombardment did not let up for a few solid minutes. As soon as it did though, she looked up to see Uzi squatting on top of her wooden cover, tails twirling outwards to let up the chakra shield.

"See the big guns?!" he yelled over the resuming gunfire.

"Hold on!" She concentrated her vision and peered into the city. She made out several large upturned forms. "There! About three hundred meters in!"

He peered into the distance and saw nothing but makeshift metal walls, fortified trenches, and concrete bunkers and pillboxes. He looked down at the Hyuuga underneath him and grinned. "Then let's get to work!"

-----------------------

After an hour of pure fighting, the red-eyed specialists had finally come into sight of the artillery which had been raining explosives on them. A huge majority of their tanks and armored vehicles didn't survive the onslaught, as the extensive trench work and fortified blockades prevented free movement and created only a few choke points, all of which the heavy guns possessed the exact coordinates for bombardment.

Uzi slammed into the side of a mobile wall with a confiscated weapon in hand. He turned to the Hyuuga next to him and asked, "Anything on the other side?"

"Yeah. Lotsa soldiers. Looks like they're just now mobilizing."

"Sounds good," he remarked as his crimson eyes flared. He leaned the automatic weapon around the edge and blind fired, emptying its clip. As soon as the firing pin clicked against an empty chamber, a blur of white and red rushed by them.

Hinata easily recognized the Agende Vhansin group. They ran like wild animals; hunched over, on all fours, and frighteningly fast. They slammed into the surprised enemy troops and began tearing the lucky ones limb from limb. The unlucky ones were forced down by packs of the cannibals and eaten alive. Whenever an enemy stopped squirming or flailing, the bloodline specialists broke off from the kill, let loose a deep-throated shriek to signify said kill, and continued on.

"Good lord," Uzi groaned without even peering over the side. "You guys are brutal…" He threw the sequestered firearm away, placed his hands in the gap at the bottom of the makeshift wall, and pulled up. The steel panel creaked as it leaned over and crashed to the ground, clearing the way for an armored technical. The gunner took aim with the truck's mounted precision rifle and pumped out a round, apparently scoring a hit because his spotter smirked and gave him a thumbs up.

"Shoot the gun crews!" Naruto commanded. They obeyed, swinging the gun around and firing a series of shots before an errant rocket blew the vehicle to pieces. "Shit!" the blonde yelled as he suddenly threw out an energy whip against a building once presumed to be empty. The crackling energy rope tore through the ground floor, promptly ripping through the supports and making the four story structure moan as it began to collapse. "Take cover!"

Everyone caught in the path of the doomed building broke out in a dead run to avoid being crushed. A few unfortunate red-eyes were picked off as snipers took advantage of their desperate situation.

"Sasuke!" the blonde yelled behind him. "Get your ass in gear! Use your energy spear to hit the gun crews!"

The younger Uchiha pulled himself from his cover and grudgingly obeyed the blonde runaway. He clasped his hand together and a sword of pure chakra shot forward, immediately cutting into an enemy crewman's throat. The revenge-consumed easterner swung the non-corporeal blade and sliced through the necks of three other gunners before they could register the attack and escape.

Hinata emptied the last of the ammunition for the Raver's rifle into a set of troops running for cover. She looked at the weapon, wondering how to reload the thing. She remembered that she didn't actually have any more rounds for it and tossed it aside. She pulled out her old thirteen millimeter and took aim, firing off the rounds as soon as she could place the sights on targets. She emptied her clip, unloaded it, and then reached for another. She became alarmed when she realized she had one magazine left for that particular firearm before sliding it into place. She pulled the slide back and took aim again.

She froze for a second when she saw a main battle tank crash through a concrete barricade. Regaining composure, she looked down her sights and fired at the soldier taking position in front of the tank as it burst into flame from multiple rockets. After putting a hole through the man's head she noticed more soldiers charging past the large war machine, so she emptied the remnants of her clip into them. When she heard the firing pin click against the empty magazine, she holstered the gun and drew the massive 'peace offering' pistol Hans gave her. She peered down the sights that seemed to stretch for miles and fired at the remaining soldier of the deceased group just as his head ducked behind the broken concrete. The recoil from the massive round shoved her entire arm into the air and the slide almost touched her face when it came back. The thumb-sized bullet slammed into concrete and went right through it into the hiding man's skull. Her heart was pounding at the sudden shock of the forceful kickback and booming noise.

"Holy shit!" Nartuo looked back at her with wide eyes. "I didn't know we had artillery support!" He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Good job, Hinata!"

"Thanks!"

The eastern duo relaxed as red-eyed soldiers poured out of the nooks and crannies of the wrecked buildings behind them. With the enemy gunnery crews eliminated and the artillery either destroyed or otherwise neutralized, the opposition was now effectively crushed around the outskirts of the city. Several red-eyed groups rallied around the intact heavy guns and proceeded to lower and turn them around to face the city. Things were looking up and everyone knew it.

Suddenly, a roar of machinery coming to life was heard from behind the taller buildings. The dust and old smokescreens kicked up during the battle obscured the skyline, but a massive object roughly fifteen stories high could be seen rising above the buildings through the smoke and burst into view. Every eye went wide when they realized it was a walker; a walker so large it was in a class all its own.

The massive eight legged behemoth was clad in black armor that was adorned with foot long spikes lining every flat surface. Loosely fitting dark armor plating protected the delicate joints and other sensitive areas. The massive energy cannon housed on the front which resembled a solid sphere of mercury appeared as a gigantic alien eyeball. The spider-like war machine's appearance was made all the more jarring by the fact that dull red 'X's were sloppily painted over every reinforcing shaft of metal covering.

"I see you managed to break through the outer defenses!" called a voice from nowhere. "But then again the _normal_ army boys are split up so badly it's no wonder!" The owner of the voice appeared at the front edge of the walker. Naruto squint his eyes to see the man, but Hinata could see him as clearly as if he were two feet away.

He was donned in a standard military uniform that was dyed pitch black. His outfit was held closely together by worn dark leather straps at intermittent points around his limbs and torso, and two strange looking rifles looked like they were strapped to his shoulder blades. It was apparent that his outward appearance was meant to be intimidating.

But it was not his clothes that made his looks jarring. It was his face. His messy bright reddish-orange hair flowed upwards and back on his head, save for two separate chords of wired together hair that flowed smoothly all the way to his ankles. Even so, his hair was outdone by his… otherworldly ocular status. Instead of actual eyes, his sockets seemed to hold pure orbs of silver. He didn't appear to be blind, as he was staring straight at Uzi and the Hyuuga, but there were no corneas, no pupils, merely solid unmoving spheres of smooth metal.

"So Uzi," the man's air of superiority reflected itself in his wicked snakelike smile, "I've been looking forward to this. How about I give you one last chance to surrender so I can move on to your other friends?"

"As if, you asshole!" the blonde red-eye replied.

The freakish man shrugged like it was an inconsequential matter. "Oh well, worth a shot." His eyelids shot up and he glared at the red-eyes below him with murderous excitement. "But this'll be fun anyway! I've been looking forward to this for a long time!"

"Who are you?!" Hinata demanded. She could see the man's chakra network and it was so convoluted that it scared her.

"White Eyes of Death! Glad you're here as well! What an excellent day!" He lifted his hands to the sky and began laughing manically. After his swift bout of insane hilarity, his head shot down with a madman's grin plastered on his face. "I am General Lorsvall! Now let's do this!"

* * *

Lorsvall is revealed!!! He may have an enormous war machine, but rest assured he still has a few more tricks up his sleeve!

Also, another little contest! There's a line in here that comes from a tv show (Hint: this show holds the world record for longest running television series in the world). In fact, I'll even tell you who says the line: Sanshatav.

Point out the phrase that he repeats, what the show is that he's repeating it from, and _what_ in said show says this (its a general name- these... 'people' (not really) don't have names).

If you are successful, I'll give you a sneak peak description of Lorsvall's abilities and you'll gain the right to give him another power (once again, think about it going off the description I give you. If it's off the wall unrelated, I'll make you come up with more until you make a logical decision).

See ya'll later!


	34. Stand up and show me you face!

Part dos of the NaruHinaLorzs fight. Not as long as I'd like it, but I figured you'd want a taste of it before I completely finished it.

On another note, I need to bring this up: Remember that little 'guess the phrase' contest I put forward last chapter? Well, the only person to get it right ALSO guessed it anonymously, leaving me with absolutely no way of contacting him/her.

The answer was the quote, "I obey!" It is repeated by the Daleks from the show 'Doctor Who'. So, sir or madam who correctly answered that, get a dadgum account and give me something! You know who you are!!!! I hate doing this, but I've gotta move forward, and I have to do it with or without your (fantastic) suggestion!

Anyways, on with the next chapter.

Usual disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its properties. What a damn shame.

Also: Language Warning! Not for the kids! Not that they'll listen!

* * *

"'Let's do this'?" Naruto repeated Lorsvall's declaration with a laugh tugging at his lips. "Are you kidding?! Look around you!" He shot his arms to the sides to emphasize the large numbers of his remaining red-eye troops. "You couldn't even take me down with a werewolf and her personal army! What makes you think you can take all of us on your own?!"

Lorsvall chuckled with a maniacal smile. "You really think I came alone? You have a lot to learn." He turned back and to the side so he could address someone behind him while still facing the red-eyed army. "Form up!!"

The screen of dust that made the inner city ghostly and empty suddenly shifted without letting up to reveal its contents. A muted rhythmic sound that gradually climbed the audible ladder reached the ears of the blonde and everyone in his company. "_What did he just do?_" he wondered.

Hinata, however, immediately saw what was in store for them. Her Byakugan eyes easily pierced through the thick dust and smoke, clearly unveiling the incredible mass of chakra steadily marching forward. Her eyes went wide as she witnessed the individual chakra coils overlapping to form a seemingly solid wall of energy.

"Hinata, what is it?" Uzi whispered to her when he noticed the concern in her lavender eyes. "What do you see?"

"It looks like…" she struggled to think of a comparison. Failing that, she went with the standard; "I'm not sure…"

The blonde easterner's question was soon answered as the advancing form parted the natural smokescreen and the sounds of marching were no longer muffled. As the dust settled in the formation's wake, wave after wave of soldiers marching in perfect straight lines could be seen stretching for miles. They didn't even leave small gaps in the line when confronted with overturned barricades, as any soldier who approached an obstacle would quicken or slow his pace to keep the line unbroken as he scaled the obstruction.

The appearance of the troops alone was quite jarring. Each soldier hefted a massive black shield that sported sharp spikes and a dull red 'X' sloppily painted on the front. Hinata could easily peer through the shields and glance at the troops' all black uniforms. Each and every opponent wore the exact same thing: a dark steel helmet over an ebony face mask and dark shafts of steel that almost completely covered the limbs and torso over their black clothes.

The only distinguishable feature among the black troops was also the only feature visible to anyone without the advanced vision of the Hyuuga's bloodline: their weaponry. Every soldier held a weapon in his right hand ranging from large caliber pistols to seemingly non-portable miniguns. Every ranged tool of war also had something unusual about it as well: elongated sharpened rods bolted to the front, protruding over their respective barrels.

Every eye went wide as the dark formation stomped the ground in perfect tandem. Something was unnatural about the endless battalion; their cooperation and movements was machinelike, mechanical. Even red-eyes would have difficulties pulling off a feat like this.

"Personal army?!" Naruto weakly taunted the silver-for-eyed General.

"Of course! Now let's go! All troops fire at will!!"

The instant Lorsvall's mouth closed, the air was filled with gunfire. Uzi threw his nine energy tails in front of him to create a domelike barrier while Hinata dashed behind him and the red-eyes ran for cover. Sadly, most of the eastern specialists already out in the open when the firefight began were instantly killed. Pockets of the specialist soldiers were trapped in their cover, unable to take any action whatsoever without fear of immediate death.

"Lord Uzi!" yelled an Agende Vhansin who held herself flat against the ground, "If we can get to their front line, we can take 'em down!"

"You're not charging them!" He ordered the young woman as his red eyes flared. "Everyone! Wait for most of them to reload!"

After a few more seconds, or minutes; it was hard to tell, there was a slight lull in the enemy fire as their weapons clicked against empty magazines. The red-eyes picked up on this and began pumping energy into their bullets, firing on the massive shields and occasionally hitting a soldier hiding behind his steel barricade.

Hinata saw the bullets ricochet harmlessly off the mobile metal bumpers and shafts of body armor. She frowned when her Byakugan detected the chakra in the red-eyes' projectiles suddenly disappearing into the shields without transferring their force. "Something's wrong," she leaned forward and informed the blonde red-eye of her concern.

"What is it…"

"Shit! Get down!" she shouted more for the other red-eyes than the easterner in front of her. She detected a massive energy spike when the spent bullets' chakra suddenly reappeared elsewhere.

The black troops who shouldered the brunt of the red-eyed onslaught stood stoically as the thin, lengthy spikes welded to their guns started sparking. The colorful sparks grew in intensity and, with a violent flash, shot out in a chaotic bolt of energy against the western specialists.

Red-eyes who were partially exposed and struck by the flashy beams screamed in pain as the redirected energy brutally coursed through their bodies before dropping to the ground in charred heaps.

Uzi's eyes went wide as he witnessed the newest attack. He peered at his smoking comrades then back at the soldiers donned in black. "Hinata," he addressed her without diverting his gaze, "Did that energy come from their shields?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Son of a bitch…" he cursed.

"That's…" the female Agende Vhansin glued to the ground came to the same conclusion. "That's my family's energy ink! Those fuckers stole it and painted it on!"

--------------------------

Lorsvall stood proudly on his massive black walker viewing the battle below. He laughed openly when his special troops launched the red-eyes' energy attacks back at them. After seeing Uzi's frustrated reaction, he decided to nip it in the bud.

"You like my dark battalion, Uzi?!" he taunted. "I know how tough you red-eyes are, so I figured a few hundred thousand of these boys outta at least put up a decent fight!"

Naruto glared at his ocular silver orbs. "You shithead!!" he growled in murderous irritation. He immediately charged forward, tails disrupting the perfect formation of the black soldiers. As predicted, he had trouble clearing a path through the tight formation.

Lorsvall decided it was time for him to make his own move. His walker reacted to his wishes and came to life, auto turrets raining hot lead on the red-eyes below. The spider-like war machine turned to the side and began moving down the line, main cannon charging as the contained liquid metal spun rapidly around the pulse gun. The large weapon's turret aimed it at a gaggle of backed up enemy tanks and vehicles and let loose a silvery beam that wrenched everything in its path to pieces.

"You bastard!!" yelled a familiar hoarse voice. The red-headed General turned with a grin towards the blonde red-eye as the easterner flew through the air towards him.

The western specialist leapt off the walker while loosing his strange weapons from their straps. As he arced through the air, he brought his odd rifles to bear and inserted his energy into the miniature generators of his guns, firing sharpened globs of pure silver at the blonde.

Uzi saw the burning slivers of shiny energy flying towards him, so he plunged his tails into a crease in the armor of the walker and shoved himself out of the way. He pulled his submachine gun from its holster, stuck its attached needle into the circular implant of his left wrist and fed ample amounts of energy into his bullets. His rounds impacted with Lorsvall's and cancelled the shots out with intense light. The few projectiles that made it to the crazed General were harmlessly knocked from the air by liquid silver orbs that formed at his enemy's back and arced sharply around him to connect with the flying hot metal.

The blonde landed on the roof of a building and emptied the rest of his clip into the descending western specialist. As soon as the firing pin clicked against the empty chamber, he absorbed a portion of a tail into his implant and let loose a barrage of sharpened energy from his tattooed hand. He could see more metal orbs forming behind his opponent and curve around with wedged ferocity, but knew he couldn't intercept them all…

Suddenly, Lorsvall disappeared in a flash of sharpened silver that sped though the air with smooth, angular grace and absolute randomness. The non-corporeal blade of metallic energy spiraled towards him and threatened to corkscrew Uzi if he didn't dive out of the way in time.

The blonde came out of his roll with alert eyes. He instinctively formed several energy whips around his right arm and flung them towards the western specialist when he reformed from the airborne silver. The ocular orbed man cracked his snakelike smile and unloaded a barrage of metallic projectiles at him, throwing the chords of chakra off while continuing straight towards him…

Until several incredibly loud shots rang out from behind Naruto and thumb sized projectiles loaded with energy knocked the silver rounds from the air. Both turned to see Hinata leaning over the edge of the structure, massive gun barrel smoking. She scaled the roof while slamming another clip into the handheld cannon and firing another chakra laden salvo at the General.

The enemy westerner dodged to his left, evading bullets by falling into his sharpened silver chakra and dodging them instantaneously. The Hyuuga didn't let up, though, and used up three entire magazines driving the enemy commander off the roof of the building while neutralizing his counterattacks.

Lorsvall, upon running out of rooftop, spiraled into his silver energy and shot upwards to resume his position on his walker. The massive war machine began to turn around, main energy cannon spinning while it charged.

"So," Naruto nudged the blue-haired woman, "What do you see?"

"His chakra's really weird. It's solid…"

"Most specialists use their energy to make something solid."

"That's not it," she refuted, Byakugan firmly fixed on their target several blocks away. "His chakra _is _solid. That silver stuff is his raw energy…"

"Oh," the blonde conceded as the walker's rotating main gun began to open. "Then this could be bad…"

The eastern duo launched themselves from the roof into the floor of a neighboring building when the walker's main cannon discharged a mass of silver energy and vaporized the structure.

"Very bad…"

* * *

I better save this and upload it before the power goes out... stormin' like a mofo out there...

Peace!


	35. Buy it Use it Break it Fix it Trash it!

Not quite that long, but I can't seem to concentrate on something more than a few hours at a time these days... too many things going on...

Oh, has anyone seen Alien vs. Predator: Requiem yet? It's pure awesomeness!!!!

On another note, I still haven't heard back from the winner of the 'I obey' contest. C'mon, dude, I'll take anything at this point! Even if Lorsvall can't use it, I'll fit it in somewhere (there are still plenty of opportunities).

usual disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its properties. Such a sad, sad thing...

Oh yeah, and another language warning. Like you'll even read this line...

* * *

Naruto and Hinata dove headlong into the adjacent structure in the nick of time; the building whose rooftop had once been their battleground crumbled and imploded upon itself. The Hyuuga recovered from her roll after a few yards while Uzumaki drug himself to an almost immediate halt with the energy tails.

"Hinata!" he called. "You okay?!"

"I'm good!" she returned.

"How're we gonna take him down?! Any ideas?!"

"Oh yes," replied a voice from the shattered glass window. The eastern duo turned to find a graceful silver blade dancing outside their floor, occasionally phasing back to form Lorsvall so he could mock them. "You won't have to fight me if you're dead." He raised his strange rifles at them and fired.

They split up; Uzi to the General's left and the blue-haired woman to his right. Seeing as how the western specialist possessed duel weapons, he simply followed each of them with one firearm each. Hinata did her best to dodge the sharpened globs of metal while returning fire with her arm-sized pistol as the blonde red-eye emptied his final clip against the barrage of metallic energy. The only result yielded by the exchanged gunfire was the numerous rounds canceling each other out as their infused energy collided and pulverized themselves in a bright flash.

Naruto sharply angled himself with a chakra tail to charge the silver-eyed man as soon as he heard the firing pin to his trademark gun click against an empty magazine. He overlapped several tails in front of him for protection while using the rest to increase his speed. He was horrified when he realized that, as Lorsvall didn't let up the barrage, the shards of silver projectiles were actually penetrating his shield. He was lucky the enemy commander's rifles weren't especially accurate or he'd leak every time he took a drink.

He was already close enough to initialize his close quarter's attack, so he lunged forward and charged his left hand's tattoos for a strike. As soon as he came within striking distance he opened up a hole in his chakra barricade and struck his hand outwards, filling the air with sharpened energy.

As Uzi thought, his opponent was one step ahead of him. The General easily dodged the airborne barrage by falling into his knifelike silver energy and gracefully spiraling to the side. When Naruto realized he hadn't thought his plan through as he flew out the hole in the building, an observation struck him. "_He didn't stay in one place,_" he mused inwardly. "_He basically sidestepped that move instead of trying to maneuver through it…_" His thoughts were interrupted when he peered down to find a few dozen onyx-clad, shield wielding soldiers aiming upwards in his direction.

"Mother of…!" He didn't finish his exclamation before he threw his energy appendages back into the broken glass window, latched onto its sides, and hurled himself back into the building. The instant he entered the mild safety of the structure, the floor around the hole buckled under the extreme gunfire. "Did you see that?!"

"Back up!" Hinata shouted as she stepped in front of him and fired a salvo at a reformed Lorsvall who was currently shooting at the blonde. The huge chakra-laden bullets collided with the silver projectiles and burned out with a bright flash as the shots cancelled each other out. The large slide locked back as the magazine went dry.

"Duck!" Uzi commanded. The blue-haired woman instantly obeyed and an especially fierce barrage of slicing energy flew over her. The General merely 'sidestepped' again by silvering himself down a few floors.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" the Hyuuga loudly questioned the blonde due to her uncomfortably close proximity to his randomized energy attack. She stood up and felt a draft on her back. Curious, she took off her beige trench coat and found out why; the aft of her outer wear was completely shredded. She looked back at the blonde with mild annoyance and shock. "I liked this jacket!"

"Sorry," he apologized with a nervous chuckle as he eyed her. "But you do look real sexy without it…"

She stifled a rising laugh. "Not the time!" she yelled, Byakugan detecting the enemy specialist's chakra shifting as he transformed into sharpened silver again. "He's coming back!"

He grabbed her shoulder and hooked her with an energy tail. "Then let's move!" He took off across the floor as the enemy's metallic rounds followed them, gutting that level of the structure.

"Hey Hinata!" Naruto addressed his white-eyed companion as they flew out the other side of the building and he started scaling it with his tails. "I've got an idea, but I'll need lots of help!"

She looked at him even though her activated bloodline could clearly see the blonde as well as everything around them. "Shoot!"

-------------------------

The Raver felt left out at first. When the fighting started early that morning, his job was primarily support. What that entailed, however, was more than boring in his mind; ensuring that the invasion force's battlefield turbines and any special equipment ran smoothly. While this task was certainly important, he had either personally built or overseen construction of everything in his charge. He knew for a fact everything he made would not malfunction within the next thousand years.

But when the battle took an unusual turn- that being the arrival of the black troops- he felt strangely liberated. His rod like tech armor glowed and flashed brilliantly under his reflective multicolored clothing as he danced amidst electric bursts and prismatic lights over the massive enemy formation.

He moved in his rough circle around the city as he leapt high into the sky and landed on the dark steel helmets of the marching troops, delivering harsh jolts of electric energy into the soldiers. As quick as he was, though, something felt wrong about the enemies; they didn't react like people.

He was an entertainer at heart, so he practically wrote a chapter in the book about getting certain reactions using specific actions. He expected the soldiers to act surprised, disrupting formation to try and intercept him as he descended from the sky again. His attacks were repetitive enough to see coming a mile away; so repetitive that the simple act of aiming upwards and pulling the trigger would force him to temporarily change tactics. But they never did this. In fact, he never even noticed one of them look up.

He manipulated one of his gauntlets and synched its magnet to thrust him away from his current perch. The machine pulsed for a fraction of a second before shooting him away and into a hole on the ground floor of a structure across the troop-choked street. Upon landing, he activated his magnetized boots and stuck to the floor as the opposing charge kept his feet stationary. He immediately deactivated his boots and jumped for cover while synching his palm magnets to attract a soldier passing by the crumbled opening. He leaned his hands over the edge and did just that: yanked a soldier from the perfect formation and slammed his head into a concrete support. A sound of flesh, bone, and metal sounded off upon impact.

"_That didn't sound normal,_" he thought, "_That was metal grinding on metal, and his helmet isn't crushed…_" He cautiously removed the dented head armor and pulled off the cloth face mask.

"Ohohoho!" he exclaimed with a hushed yell. "Looks like Lorsvall's been busy…" His lips curled into a smile while his crimson eyes flared behind smooth azure ocular lenses to pass on his new discovery to his red-eyed comrades.

-------------------------

Naruto and Hinata had gone through- literally- several buildings thanks to Lorsvall, his walker, and his army. They had been looking for a break to implement Uzi's hasty plan, but no prime opportunities presented themselves.

The blonde's eyes burned brightly as information was passed to all the red-eyes. The Hyuuga saw this through her bloodline as she unloaded massive rounds into a segment of black troops, taking them down as the slugs buried themselves into their heads with a metallic 'crunch'.

"_Wait… 'crunch'?_" the blue-haired woman wondered. She ducked behind a barely standing concrete wall and moved towards one of the armor clad corpses. Her first course of action was to sweep the dead man's long weapon to her side. She then pulled the woolen mask off the bloodied head and gasped at what she saw.

"So now you see my handiwork, White Eyes of Death!" the General announced with great bravado, though how he knew she had seen anything without actually seeing her with his own 'eyes' was beyond her. "I believe Uzi knows what I'm talking about, don't you red-eye?!"

The white-eyed woman glanced at the blonde easterner. He gazed back at her with blank eyes as he confirmed what she had recently witnessed. "Yeah, Raver just told us…"

With disgust contorting her face, she turned back to the deceased soldier's head. The rear top half of the skull was missing, and in its place was a black metal shell constructed of multiple steel shafts. The remnants of the corpse's brain oozed onto the asphalt in a mixture of grey mush, dark blood, and liquid silver.

"They are _my_ soldiers, after all!" Lorsvall taunted.

The eastern duo turned to each other and nodded their heads, revealing their mutual strengthened resolve to defeat this sick bastard to each other.

* * *

Oh yeah. Regarding the art stuff: since there's no way in hell I'll be done in time for January 3rd, I'm gonna extend the deadline for at least a week. That ups it to about January 10th or so, but I'll probably up it even more to account for the weekend or something.

Since I've been such a lazy ass, I _am_ doing a little something: a headshot of our beloved Lorsvall as I see him. I took the cheap way out by doing lineart of him, but I don't even care at this point. Once I get it all colored in, I'll post it for your enjoyment (or lack thereof)

Catchya'll later.


	36. First since the New Year!

Whew! Slightly longer chapter. But it's all good. Actually, this took a loooong time to write, as I started before the new year and finished up only a few minutes ago. Of course, I blame it on the booze consumed for New Year's followed by the misery felt after consumed said booze. Of course, it was fun as crap and I would absolutely do it again, but that's beside the point.

Ah! If you want to see what I imagine what Lorsvall looks like (or his head, at least), head on over to my author's main page on this site (just hit that pretty blue hyperlink that says 'stigma') and you'll find the link for it pretty quickly. (Hint: it's the only one there...)

usual disclaimer: Naruto and all official affiliated properties are not mine. But son of a gun, they outta be...

LANGUAGE WARNING!! A bit heavy this time around!!! I kid you not!

* * *

The soldier clad in onyx carried his forty pound spiked shield on his left arm, but he didn't mind it at all. He wielded a fully stocked seventy pound machine gun with his right hand, but he paid no attention to the weight. His body was soaked with sweat and burning from the one hundred plus pounds plus of shaft-like body armor, yet he did not heed his aching muscles' cries for relief. All that mattered in his world was that he march forward in unison with his comrades and pull the trigger when told by the metallic voice in his head.

He didn't even care that his skull caved in when it was greeted by an airborne concrete column flung by a red-eyed blonde man then deflected by his commander. His perception began to darken as his excessive weight pulled him to the ground and his head slammed against the hot ground. His hand wouldn't obey his mental orders as his grip loosened and his weapon was wrenched from his grasp. The final image sent from his visual senses to his brain before everything went dark was that of an attractive blue-haired woman scurrying away with his firearm.

Hinata ran as quickly as her feet could take her up a stairwell to put some distance between her and the never ending formation marching in the streets. Naruto was currently doing the impression of a spider as he moved on the walls of another building somewhere across the roadway while dodging Lorsvall's shots as best he could. She scaled five floors in record time, took position by a window, and waited for the fast paced battle to pass in front of her.

Her wish was granted after a few more seconds. Uzi went flying by, chakra tails moving swiftly as they propelled the blonde across the outer walls of the set of buildings opposite her. The general followed closely behind, his silver chakra pushing itself under his feet to keep him airborne as he unloaded on the eastern red-eye. The white-eyed woman focused a huge surge of chakra into the ammo drum and pulled the trigger without the intent of letting up until the magazine was empty. A barrage of energy-enhanced bullets exploded out of the building, catching a wary Lorsvall's attention.

"So there you are!" he shouted as his silver energy extruded outwards to knock the rounds out of the air. He brought one of his rifles to bear against her and unleashed a salvo of his own. He continued firing until he felt someone at his back…

Naruto missed the enemy specialist by mere centimeters when he flew towards him. When the General was momentarily distracted by the white-eyed woman, Uzi doubled back and, preparing a particularly large amount of energy in his sharp tattoos, launched himself across the street with his chakra tails. However, his opponent noticed him just in time to melt into sharpened silver and spiral out of the way.

"Holy hell!" Hinata shouted as she dove out of the way when the blonde red-eye barreled into her position. She emptied the remnants of the drum magazine against Lorsvall and tossed it to the side. "You okay?!"

"Fine!" He rubbed his head to recover from the hard landing. "Start running!"

The eastern duo broke out in a dead run in differing directions to confuse the western specialist's aim. The Hyuuga ducked and dodged as errant globs of sharpened silver flew by her head while Uzi burst from the wall and clambered up another building with his energy tails. Hinata leapt headlong behind the concrete stairwell as it was plastered with the liquid-like metal. She darted up the stairs to make her way to the top for what would most certainly be a daring feat.

"Hinata!" boomed a familiar voice from somewhere outside. "Stick to the plan! I'll meet up with you later!"

She nodded mentally as she cleared another floor. "_This'll be risky as hell,_" she mused, turning the blonde's scheme over in her mind. The first portion of it was a success; lure the General into the inner city where spaces were fairly crowded. The second phase to the plan, though, was incredibly dangerous and carried with it a staggeringly high chance of death.

The eastern woman burst from the door to the roof and instantly took cover, as keeping the enemy in the dark about her location was a must for this hasty plot to work. As she kneeled behind the extensive ventilation and listened to the sounds of battle roaring around her for Lorsvall's trademark weapons, she had a moment to herself to observe her surroundings.

Had it not been for the hostile situation, the skyline would have been a beautiful sight in an architectural kind of way. The smog from the city illuminated the atmosphere in brilliant yellows, oranges, and reds as the sunlight passed through the many towers that dotted the horizon. The wispy clouds floated by without a care in the world, parting only to allow any errant bullets passage. If one were to ignore the sounds of gunfire and explosions, it was an ideal city scene.

She was shaken from her daydreaming when the low pitched thrums of the western specialist's guns drew near. Her Byakugan easily found the airborne man chasing after her blonde crush, silver chakra pulsing as it propelled him forward and flew towards Uzi in lethal globs. She waited for the General to get closer to her building before dashing to the edge and leaping off… forty stories above ground.

Hinata said nothing and tried to stay silent as she descended. She readied an intricate charge of chakra in her hands as she continued on her downwards journey to intercept Lorsvall in midair. The western General stayed true to his course as he pursued Uzi, paying no mind to the sky above him. She was thirty feet away… twenty… ten… mere inches away…

Then he glanced up with wide metallic-orbed eyes and spiraled away in a flash of sharpened silver. The only thought at this point in the Hyuuga woman's mind was brief and simple: "_Shit…_" Even though her bloodline revealed all, she closed her eyes tightly to brace for the rough landing coming up.

She was suddenly jerked to the side by a flying blonde red-eye. "You okay?" he asked with rushed concern in his azure and crimson eyes.

The eastern woman simply nodded, her shock being strong enough to negate her voice.

"Alright, looks like that failed…" Naruto thought out loud as he slammed into another building and secured himself and the Hyuuga with his energy tails. "Okay, we'll try this- _what the hell_!!"

The structure under their feet suddenly shifted and began to crumble in massive chunks. The blonde struck his freefalling portion of the building with his energy appendages and launched the duo back into the air. He began curling a few tails around them as a shield just in time for something to strike it, knocking them into the fray below.

"Freakin' shit!" exclaimed the blonde as the eastern pair smashed into the marching formation. He immediately shot his tails out in a sweeping motion to take out the black troops now staring them down, forgetting that the crimson paint on their shields absorbed energy…

Hinata saw the rerouting of chakra with her bloodline eyes. She pulled up the rifle dropped by the soldier crushed by their landing and pumped rounds into the enemies' exposed heads as the rods welded to their firearms began to crackle with deadly chakra. She turned to take down the final modified soldier as the energy spiked in his gun.

Her finger pulled the trigger but the firing pin clicked against an empty magazine. "_Crap!_" she thought as the chakra became visible and began to pulsate between the sharpened bars. She jutted her arms out to pull an unused shield in front of her as the soldier's energy levels reached their highest point.

However, Naruto unleashed his tails against the partially alive man, wrenched his arm from his body, and aimed the weapon, limb attached, at Lorsvall. The refashioned rifle discharged, sending an erratic bolt of electric energy towards the General.

The western specialist laughed heartily as especially large orbs of silver formed at his back and arced forward to intercept the redirected energy. The two strange energies clashed in a brilliant flash of colorful lights and liquid metal. "Smart move," he muttered with a snakelike grin as he shouldered one of his rifles and thrust his open palm forward. Through the consistent flaring of energy in front of him he could observe Uzi and the White Eyes of Death bludgeoning a path through his semi-human battalion towards another skyscraper. "Gotchya…"

A glob of solid metallic energy oscillated in his hand. He bent his fingers inward, touching the tips to the liquid-like metal before jutting them forward again. In doing so, strands of silver no thicker than threads propelled outward in a fast and violent manner, slicing through everything in their way like hot knives through butter.

"Duck!" Hinata yelled when she saw the stringy metal whip towards them. The blonde red-eye instantly obeyed, pulling her to the ground with him the moment before the silver energy flexed over them and cut through the remaining troops in their way. The Hyuuga looked up to find a fully alert, if not slightly frightened, blonde red-eye glaring at the collapsing first floor of their target structure. "Oh hell…"

"Hold on!" he yelled, hooking her with a tail and propelling them into the ground floor of the failing building with his other energy appendages. His blue and red eyes were as wide as they could be and his attention was focused purely on their surroundings.

Hinata's lavender eyes resembled saucers. The blonde's actions went against every piece of logic in her mind; so much so that her brain shut down in certain places. "Uhh…" was all she could mutter as Uzi shielded them with the chakra tails. She shook some sense back into her head when the eastern specialist began scaling the crumpling floors, knocking away debris and clearing temporary paths as they moved upwards at an amazing pace.

Outside, the failing skyscraper crashed straight down per its design. The dust from the crushed concrete gushed outwards amidst the tangled metal and broken glass like a wave over a sandy shoreline. The dark formation nonchalantly took the brunt of any deviating chunks of artificial stone as they marched forward mindlessly.

The eastern duo emerged from the roof of the doomed building several seconds before it fully ceased its fall to be met by Lorsvall floating on his silver energy above them. He smiled wide and brought his bizarre firearms to bear.

"That was beautiful, Uzi!" he exclaimed before unleashing a globular metallic barrage. "I mean, really, that was art!"

"Crap!" Naruto thrust both arms forward, releasing a salvo of sharpened energy and spiked whips against the silver projectiles. He was too surprised to think about redirecting his airborne trajectory, forcing him to attempt countering every shot.

Hinata, however, came up with a hasty idea. Whether out of shock, foolishness, or a combination of both, she channeled chakra into her legs, placed her feet against his shoulders, bent her knees inward, and pushed.

"The hell?!" he shouted in surprise as the blue-haired woman flew in front of him. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I dunno!" she answered. A small part of her brain was screaming at her, but she tried not to listen to it as she gathered chakra into her hands to parry the aerial metal. Her Byakugan clearly saw a handful of bolts that would intercept her if she did not act upon them. She cocked her hands back and pushed them forward, connecting superbly with the leading projectile.

What happened next, no one knew. A bright flash of pure white light bathed the white-eyed woman, obscuring her and her immediate proximity. When the dazzling glow phased out, Hinata was directly in front of the enemy specialist.

Lorsvall was far too taken aback to react. It also appeared that he was somewhat blinded, if his rapid blinking was any indication. He shook his head violently to snap himself back to reality. Unfortunately for him, it was too late.

Hinata, wondering what had transpired, found herself within striking distance of the silver-orbed specialist. She hurriedly concentrated a burst of chakra in her hand and struck the man under his left shoulder. She missed the lung, but she succeeded in disrupting his bizarre energy network.

The General responded by melting into his sharpened energy and spiraling away, but he suddenly reformed in midair. He obviously didn't anticipate this, as he started panicking when his energy didn't act normally.

"Oh, shit, shit!" he sputtered as he fell in and out of his metallic chakra without any precise control. "What the fuck did you do to me?!" he shrieked once he landed on the stable base of an adjacent rooftop.

"She owned your ass," Uzi responded softly as he crept up from behind Lorsvall. The western specialist turned to shoot the blonde red-eye, but there was no distance between them. Naruto buried Silba's scratched combat knife deep in the General's right arm. The freakish commander spiraled away with a flash of silver only to appear at the edge of the roof. His face contorted with pain as he dredged the knife from his now useless muscles amidst a sea of cursing. As soon as the blade clattered to the ground, the westerner shot away in his usual globs of silver, faltering at multiple points along the way but recovering in time to avoid crashing to the ground. In a few seconds, he was out of sight.

Uzumaki knew they got him. It wasn't perfect, but his plan had worked well enough. He looked at Hinata to find her landing softly on the rooftop. "_Strange,_" he silently observed. "_How high up was she?_" He dismissed his curiosity when he saw that she was in good health. "Great job!"

She gave a thumbs up. "Thanks."

"Hey, uh… what was that light?"

She froze for a fraction of a second as she contemplated her reply. She settled for shrugging and saying, "No idea. But it helped, whatever it was."

Uzi smiled. "Sounds good. Let's go finish him off."

"Right!" she affirmed, settling her attention into her blood limit to find the retreating man.

"_But I didn't just see that,_" the blonde red-eye thought as his companion focused on their surroundings. "_I felt it, too. What the hell could it be?_"

"Found him," she said with realization in her voice. "He's heading for the central tower."

"Alright. Let's go!" He cracked a foxy grin as he took the Hyuuga into his arms and rendered them airborne with a strike of his energy tails.

* * *

Alrighty then, that's one fight down! A few more to go! (Like I'll tell you how many...)

Please do let me know if my methods of writing work for describing battles. Seriously, I felt during the whole time that this was rather lackluster, but I could just be paranoid again. Whatever, but please let me know!!

Oh, and the 'official' date of the art contest thingy is now the end of the second weekend of January. I forget the actual date, and I don't care to take 2 seconds to find out right now, but I'll repost the date later.

Later, ya'll!


	37. A little bit of down time! Again!

A little shorter than usual (as of late), but I'd like to get this stuff out of the way.

One of the 'surprises' I keep mentioning is revealed in here. So read and find out what it is!

the damn disclaimer that I shouldn't have to write, but I do: I do not own Naruto!! Period!

And the usual language warning applies here as well. Enjoy

* * *

The battle wasn't going well for the red-eyes attacking from the south. Almost all the ground they had liberated had been easily taken back by the never ending dark formation. The only foothold the western specialists had left was the honeycomb of captured trenches, and only because the wildly uneven ground forced the marching soldiers to falter in their 'perfect' formation.

Sanshatav and his pack were having a field day in the deep ditches. The shield wielding troops filed neatly into the narrow trench works, allowing the close combat freaks to tear them apart. Unfortunately for the Agende Vhansin members, the enemy soldiers were impervious to the natural scare tactics employed by the cannibal specialists.

Sanshatav was currently hacking and slashing away at the constant barrage of men and steel. He had learned to avoid applying any energy into his long sickle-like sword for fear of providing on-the-spot ammunition for his enemies, so cutting them apart was a difficult task. At this point in the fighting, the bodies and heavy armor were piled so high that the enemy troops would soon not need to break their strict formation to cross the ditches.

"_If that happens,_" his berserker mind pieced together through its own screeching, "_We'll loose this battle…_" He concluded his thoughts with more wild swinging. Through the corner of his blood limit eyes, he saw a handful of troops aim their weapons at him. "_Energy's too low,_" he observed inwardly. "_Guess this is it…_"

The next thing he knew, the group of soldiers were engulfed in flames. He ducked out of instinct as the explosion flung bits of shattered bone and torn metal in every direction. He peered behind him to find the source of the unexpected bomb.

He let loose a deep growl in his frenzied state of mind, relaying what he saw to his familial comrades. After doing so, he let loose a bloodstained smirk. "_How did I not see that? Oh well, we could use the help…_" He raised his sword for another strike and put it through another enemy's exposed neck.

--------------------------

Naruto held Hinata close to him as he sailed through the air via energy tails. She was tracking Lorsvall as best she could, but she was clearly becoming tired. He scaled a particularly high skyscraper to get a better view of the city and provide a higher launching pad.

As soon as they reached the edge of the roof, they saw the wounded General running for a blast door at the base of the central tower; the tallest structure of the city. Uzi strengthened his grip on the Hyuuga and leapt high through the air, passing over hundreds, possibly thousands, of dark troops in the process. He landed behind a massive steel wall that established a soldier free perimeter around the sky-high structure in the middle of the city. He softened their freefalling arrival with all his chakra tails, but it still hurt.

"There he is!" the blue-haired easterner yelled, pointing at the western specialist as he charged through the large gate.

"Oh, shit!" the blonde cursed when the immense blast doors began closing. "Go for it!" They broke out in a dead run for the tower's entrance.

"Hey, Uzi!" called a familiar voice. "We'll get 'im! Don't worry!"

"Yeah, leave him to us!"

The eastern duo turned to find Trench and Shades sliding a badly damaged motorcycle into the crack of the door a second before the gates slammed shut. Those particular western allies were the last people they thought would make it past the thousands of ironclad marching troops to this point.

"Did you just see what I saw?" Naruto inquired while staring in disbelief at the closed opening.

"I think I did…" she replied with similar uncertainty. "You saw Shades and Trench, right?"

"Yeah…"

She nodded. "Yep. I saw 'em…"

The blonde red-eye shook his head to regain his thoughts. "What am I doing? Let's open this damn thing." He strode up to the massive doors and thrust his energy appendages into the crack. He jolted back when there was a sudden drain on his chakra. "What the hell?!"

Hinata reactivated her Byakugan and immediately found the reason for the absorption. "Looks like there's some more of that energy ink lining the inside."

He sighed in frustration. "Where?".

She glanced up, down, and to the sides of the tower. "Everywhere."

"What?" he whined. "How much ink we talkin' here?"

She peered at the structure again before shrugging. "Shit tons."

"Damnit!" He kicked the blast doors before raising his hands in annoyance. "How are we gonna get through this?!"

The Hyuuga suddenly realized there was something flying through the air towards them. "Get down!"

Uzi obeyed in a heartbeat. He grasped his companion in his arms and wrapped his energy tails around them as tightly as he could without crushing them. A moment later, the blast doors blew apart in a violent explosion. Once the fire died down, the blonde easterner uncurled the chakra appendages and glanced in every direction.

"That was a shell! Where'd it come from?!"

"Hey Uzi!" called a voice from up high. "How ya doin?!"

Both easterners turned to find the voice's owner and were shocked to see who it was.

"Bastan?!" Naruto recognized the oldest Agran brother standing atop the perimeter's wall. "Wha- what are you doing here?! Weren't you in the southern country?!"

The goggled man was beaming. "Yeah, we were! Just got here! Good thing these guys don't turn around," he jerked his thumb behind him at the marching battalion. "We can bomb the crap outta them and they won't be the wiser!"

"Where are your brothers?!" Hinata added. "And Sheila?!"

"They're around! I came this far so I can gauge distances for my artillery crews. Nephil, Geist, and Sheila are leading the southern army's advance! We took a real beating before coming up! Besides," he continued with a grin. "I'm a walking bombing run! I can level crap faster than anyone else!"

"Say 'hi' to everyone for me!" Uzi gave a thumbs up to accompany his foxy smile.

"Will do! You two get going!"

The eastern duo turned back to the now crumbled doors. The blonde glanced at the blue-haired woman. "You ready for this?"

She nodded and smiled. "You bet. Let's go!"

--------------------------

Lorsvall staggered quickly through one of the many hallways back to the throne room. His arm burned with its deep wound. He stumbled a bit when the tower shook with an explosion at its base. "_Dammit,_" he thought. "_How'd they break those doors so damn fast?! Oh well, it won't matter once I get to the throne room…_" he glanced forward and found the lift he needed to take and a face from his past casually leaning against the adjacent wall.

He stopped when he approached the person. "How did you get in here?" he asked calmly.

"I came in earlier," replied the multicolored man.

"You here to kill me?"

"Nah, not my place."

"So, still going by that name, Lasion?"

"Yep."

"What was it again? 'The Raver'?"

Raver smiled. "Yep, that's it." He held up one of the shafted domes from one of the skulls of the mindless marching soldiers. "I see you kept researching mind control."

Lorsvall grinned with a chortle. "Yeah. Got a lot better at it too."

"Still not perfect," he replied, tossing the machine into the air and catching it as it came down. "They're pretty mindless. Not a lot of brain power."

"That what you came here for? To mock me?"

Lasion chuckled. "Nah. Came here to say goodbye."

"Alright," the enemy specialist patted the Raver on the shoulder as he boarded the lift. He smiled sincerely for once. "I'll be seeing you around, Lasion." The lift began to rise.

"See you around," the colorful westerner returned the smile. "Dad." Once Lorsvall disappeared from view, the party going specialist slipped his father's device into his inside pocket and walked away calmly with a sad smile adorning his face.

* * *

Anyone see this one coming? (I'd remember this if I were you... winkwink)

Oh, well. I fly home tomorrow, so don't expect any updates until... Saturday (why not?). Lemme know if you liked this little surprise!


	38. I never knew the PAIN! not akatsuki!

Well apparently the general consensus is that you were all surprised at my little 'shocker'. If that's true, then I'm doing a great job!!

Also, an anonymous reviewer claimed this story is the best thing since sliced bread. Considering how many sandwiches I eat, that's a serious compliment. I mean it; that's high praise in my book. So thank you, sir, for comparing my story to the awesomeness of my daily lunches!

As for news: the school year has started up again, so another flux of chapter updating is in store. I haven't even determined all my classes yet, so... yeah... anyways, that won't stop me from finishing this story! I might even add that 'Lost' is almost complete! Don't worry though, there's still plenty of meat left, even a sequel in the works...

usual disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. I would be filthy rich if it did.

LANGUAGE WARNING: RATHER HEAVY THIS TIME AROUND!!!

* * *

Lorsvall stumbled through the hallway leading to the throne room as soon as the doors to the lift opened again. He knew for a fact that the king's chamber was… special. "_It's impenetrable to anyone who uses energy,_" he mused inwardly with a grin. "_And that's all they've got left…_"

He pushed open one of the massive doors with his left side, eased himself in, and then shut it with his unwounded arm. He turned to find his ruler sitting on the throne in the shadows amidst an unending sea of pillars. "Sir," he reported, suppressing the instinct to cough due to his deep injury. "Uzi and the White Eyes of Death are on their way here. I can take them out as soon as they enter…"

"There will be no need for that, Lorsvall," replied the near yet distant voice of the tyrant. "My personal… assistants here are more than capable of doing your job." With that, two figures emerged from either side of the throne and glared at their weakened General with haughtiness in their eyes.

He stared back at the duo with concern forming in his silver orbs as he connected the dots. "Then… what is my next task, my lord?"

The king's face cracked a smile that was visible through the darkness of his elevated throne. "Your worth has been extinguished, General. There is no more need for you." He flicked his hand upwards as if shooing away a fly.

Lorsvall immediately understood the meaning of the simple hand gesture. "You fucker!!" he screamed as he bypassed the pain of his wounds and raised his strange rifles against the treacherous ruler. "Die!!"

No sooner had he threatened the leader when long, spine like appendages burst from behind the many columns and impaled him against the door, dull blades stabbing him through every vital point. The spines retracted when the silver-orbed General ceased breathing.

"Now, my faithful servants," the tyrant addressed his assistants, "You may want to… make yourselves hidden again. Uzi and the White Eyes of Death are on their way, and I'm sure you'll… surprise them."

"Sir!" the duo simultaneously replied before taking their positions behind the pillars directly to the sides of the throne.

------------------------

Naruto and Hinata were riding the lift to the highest floor of the monumental tower. They found it odd that the only access to the throne room was by elevator, but surely there was a reason.

The Hyuuga checked her massive handgun. She only had a few more clips left for the thing, and the tyrannical king surely had another trick up his sleeve, especially if the only route towards his dwelling was a narrow passage. "_I've gotta make these count._"

On the other hand, Uzi was concerned about something else altogether. Ever since the battle for the capital had begun, he had felt something was off. Now that he had time to think, he could put his finger on it. The further he and his blue-haired companion pushed into the city, the more… distant his comrades felt.

Being a red-eye meant that one could sense when fellow crimson-eyed specialists were around, no matter the distance. But this time was different. The closer they came to the center of the city, the more isolated the blonde felt in his head. Now that he was actually in the tower, his mind experienced something he had not felt in years: solitude. He couldn't sense his comrades at all, and this disturbed him to no end. "_Whatever's doing this has to be incredibly strong…_" he thought, fear beginning to cloud his lonely mind.

"You alright?" Hinata asked in a calm and caring voice.

"Yeah," he nodded, thankful that he wasn't really alone. "I'm fine; just anxious."

The eastern duo snapped to attention when they felt the lift come to a stop. The large doors slid open to reveal a pair of combat ready specialists facing forward.

They were surprised to find that there were no defenses in the elegant hallway going towards another set of large embroidered doors. They moved swiftly through the lavishly decorated corridor and paused at either side of the towering entrance, surveying the doors for signs of any traps.

"See anything?" Naruto whispered.

The white-eyed woman observed everything in the immediate area with bloodline eyes. "No," she responded, "All I see is more of that chakra ink. It blocks my view of anything. It's everywhere too," she spat in mild frustration. Her Byakugan had never encountered anything it could not defeat in terms of penetrating sight.

"Alright, looks like we've gotta wing it. On three."

She nodded in acknowledgment as the blonde red-eye began counting.

"One… two… three!" he shouted as he kicked in one of the doors and rushed in, energy tails balling up in front of him for protection. He was closely followed by the Hyuuga wielding her arm length pistol.

Needless to say, he was put off by the fact that they were not immediately fired upon. Hinata stuck close to his back, firearm at the ready, but there were no immediate threats to be seen. As he gazed around the unexpectedly large room, he noticed a bloody heap leaning against the other engraved door behind them.

"Is that…?" he began, recognizing the body-length chords of reddish hair and odd rifles at the corpse's sides.

"Yeah. It's Lorsvall," the white-eyed woman confirmed.

"And so Uzi and the White Eyes of Death finally arrive," a voice calmly spoke from atop a heightened chair in the shadows at the other end of the extensive chamber. "So glad you could make it."

The eastern duo's eyes shot towards the figure upon realization that it was their target. The darkened phantom stood and casually descended his throne to greet them.

"You've been the most troublesome thorn in my side for quite some time, Uzi," the tyrant's voice echoed down the elongated room. "And you as well as of late, miss 'Hyuuga'."

"Are you the king's brother?" Uzi asked calmly.

"Surely you jest, young red-eye. I _am _the king!"

Naruto continued with an apathetic tone in his voice. "You are responsible for the murder of the king of this country as well as the endangerment of the lives of every citizen in this nation."

"Such an accusation…" He sounded bored.

"Your actions constitute capital punishment; the death penalty."

"Yes, yes, I'm aware of my country's laws. You forget that I created them as well as enforced…"

"_Don't fuck with me!!_" the blonde lost his calm demeanor in favor of a furious outburst. "You've killed so many people and expect me to believe it was just?! You will die!!"

"Not quite so," he replied matter-of-factly as he emerged from his seat's deep shadow. He appeared to be in his mid-fifties and in good health, as he possessed a well-built frame adorned by flowing robes that resembled Sheila's stylish clothing. His graying hair carried stark specks of brown and his pupils glowed an unusual dark violet. "I want you to meet some friends of mine first. I'm sure you'll get along with them _very_ well." He snapped his fingers and two figures stepped out from behind the pillars at his sides.

"This is the top spy from my intelligence department," he gestured to the female at his right. The woman was donned in a simple dark grey standard officer uniform with an unusual weapon strapped to her back.

"And this," he turned his outstretched hand towards the man on his left, "Is my personal assassin. He… assisted me in the… disposal of the last king." The tyrant's killer stood resolutely in his crumpled brown uniform, bloodied weapon in hand.

Naruto and Hinata's eyes went wide when they gazed upon the newcomer enemies. The Hyuuga was the first to voice her shock. "It… it's you…"

"Hey, Hinata!" Shades yelled, goggles reflecting the light from the distant ceiling. "Glad you could make it!"

"I'm so thrilled you two made it all this way," Trench continued with a murderous smile, "Just so we could take a stab at you ourselves."

The blonde red-eye stared them down with unmatched hatred burning in his eyes. "_Traitors... they're traitors…_"

"But… but why?!" The blue-haired easterner was horribly confused.

"Simple, sweetheart," Shades answered. "We're spies. Always have been."

"It was our job to find Uzi," the shovel-wielding backstabber carried on the explanation. "But we never could. We infiltrated the red-eyes years ago but could never accurately determine his location."

"Why would you do this?!" Hinata's eyes were beginning to tear up. Grief overcame her shock now that she knew her red-eyed friends had betrayed them from the start. "Why did you help me find him, then?!"

"You had an emotional attachment to Uzi," the goggled woman justified her actions. "So we figured you had a better chance of finding him than we did."

"Looks like we were right on the money, too!" Trench began to mock them. "You even brought him here! How nice of…"

"**Shut up!!**" Naruto was beyond furious. He had never felt anger like this before, not even when he was exiled from Konoha all those years ago. "**You betrayed us!! You will **_**all**_** die!!**" With that, he spiraled his tails into the ground, propelling himself against the traitors.

* * *

O. M. G...

This is the twist I claimed made me tear up when I thought of it. You guys like? Even better, did anyone see this coming (**barring **their disappearance in the last chapter)?

Dunno when the next chapter's coming. Possibly tomorrow. My schedule's messed up right now. Catch ya'll later!!


	39. duca duca duca duca duca duca huuuuuuh!

Not quite as long as I'd like, but I think I've proven that I can wrap this up fairly quickly regardless of word count. Enjoy.

disclaimer and language warning: I do not own Naruto and there is strong language ahead. To believe otherwise would be foolish.

* * *

"Bring it, Uzi!" Trench shouted as he sprung forward to intercept the blonde. Shades darted back into the sanctuary of the numerous pillars and readied her special rifle.

As soon as Naruto's chakra tails struck the ground, he felt a massive drain on his reserves. He flew forward as planned, but it took far more energy than it should have. "_Oh damn…_" he mused when he instantly realized what his enemies' strategy was.

Hinata shook some sense back into her head and also took cover behind the columns on the same side as Shades. Her Byakugan blazing, she raised her massive pistol and took aim at the treacherous woman. She fired and the slide almost touched her face as it jolted back.

The female intelligence officer responded by raising her short rifle and returning fire. There was a loud 'thud' followed by a bright sliver of light colliding with the White Eye's thumb sized round. The spent munitions burst apart in a dull flash as they made contact.

The blue-haired woman scowled as she ran down the surprisingly lengthy row of pillars, taking potshots whenever Shades revealed herself in a clearing. She tried applying energy into her bullets, but every time the metal left the barrel the chakra was suddenly absorbed by the columns. "Son of a…" she cursed under her breath when she stopped to reload.

The goggled woman took this opportunity to unleash a salvo of glowing shots against the Hyuuga. The easterner easily avoided them by ducking behind the insane number of supports. This basic exchange of gunfire continued on for several minutes.

"_What is her secret?_" Hinata wondered when she saw that Shade's rounds carried a faint chakra signature that wasn't drained by the environment. She burst from her cover and ran as close to the ground as she could, taking intermittent shots when she saw her enemy exposed in the gaps.

Meanwhile, Uzi was having a more than rough time dealing with Trench. The traitor was an expert at close combat with his reinforced trench shovel and the blonde could no longer rely on his energy reserves. Every time the assassin swung or struck at him he would attempt to block it with an energy appendage, but each instance brought about a drain on his chakra. "_He's trying to outlast me…_" he mused. "_And at this rate, he'll be able to pull it off…_" His stressed mind came up with a hasty plan.

"How did you hide your identity?!" he shouted while backing up and dodging wild swings.

"How perceptive!" Trench mocked as he cocked his arm back for another strike. "Can you feel my presence right now?!"

"What's your point?!" He ducked and leapt back.

"Can you sense my red eyes right now?!" He lunged forward on one foot and curved in midair to initiate a slicing movement.

"No! Why?!" Uzi sidestepped behind a pillar.

"It's this city!" The assassin buried his weapon into said pillar and wrenched it free as he continued the pursuit. "The closer you get to the king's tower, the more his influence inhibits your mind!"

"What the hell's that mean?!" The blonde used several supports as leverage to bounce around.

"The king's able to suppress the part of the brain that enables the crimson eyes!" He thrust his free arm forward and a sharp clamp shot out. "General Lorsvall was able to build a smaller version and implant 'em into me and Shades!"

The wedged vice latched onto Naruto's right arm but didn't cut too deeply into his flesh. He glanced down and realized he instinctively extended his energy tattoos just enough to protect his limb. "_Chance!_" he thought. He resumed trying to keep Trench distracted with the conversation. "A small version of what?!"

"The king's machines!" the royal killer shouted as he activated the mechanical device belted to his arm, reeling in the steel cable that ended with the clamp on the blonde red-eye's arm. The traitor bolted forward as his mechanical weapon withdrew, shovel leveled directly in front of him. "And now you're dead!"

At the last possible second, Uzi shoved his 'captured' arm forward and discharged a highly concentrated wedge of energy from his lengthened tattoos. Two exceedingly sharp bolts of chakra spiraled around his arm and extended forward a foot, grazing the assassin on the cheek as he broke off his attack in the nick of time. The blonde red-eye grinned when he only felt a normal drain on his energy.

Trench sneered when he hit the ground in a crouch. He had locked the gears to his weaponized fastener to slacken the line, curling the cable around his arm as he momentarily retreated. He picked himself up and, with a rush of adrenaline, yanked back on the metal cord…

To no avail. The line tightened as Naruto repeated the gesture and held firmly onto the steel wire. The blonde saw that the taut cable was clear of any surface and focused his sharpened chakra blades onto the wire, prompting them to quickly snake towards his enemy in a swift spiral pattern.

The killer cursed as he pushed his arm to the side, brushing the cord against a pillar. To his mild surprise and disgust, Uzi retracted the lethal energy back to his arm instead of letting it be absorbed by the hidden devices in the column.

"Didn't think I'd figure it out, did'ya?" Uzumaki bragged. "Long as I don't let my energy touch a surface, it won't drain." He glared at the traitor to allow his words sank in. "You're fucked."

-------------------------

Hinata had quickly figured out that any surface of the massive chamber would absorb chakra yet still had to catch a break with Shades. The goggled woman wisely kept her distance and seemed to know her location at any given time. The Hyuuga was beginning to strain her Byakugan, as she had never used it continuously for so long in her entire life. Even worse was the fact that the ink-coated machinery in the pillars obstructed her superior vision, rendering it all but useless as she could only see the chakra coils of her former friend whenever she was out in the open.

"Where are you my little Hinata?!" the treacherous red-eye cooed, obviously trying to flush the easterner out without putting forth any effort. "Come out, come out wherever you are…"

The White Eyes obliged her former comrade by leaning around her column and clipping the pillar where she saw Shades. "_Dammit!_" she swore inwardly as she ejected her empty clip and reached for another. She paused for a split second when she heard footsteps running quietly towards her. Her head darted to her right when a rifle muzzle suddenly appeared around the corner. She pushed herself over just as the weapon fired, missing her upturned chin by centimeters. As the heat singed her neck, she realized what was so special about the ammunition used by her enemy counterpart.

The Hyuuga bent her arms back at right angles and caught herself while swinging her right leg up and catching the bottom of Shades's firearm. The barrel swung up and away as the traitor herself rounded the corner and brandished something the blue-haired woman had failed to notice before- a concealed pistol. The goggled woman grinned as she pulled the trigger.

Luckily, the white-eyed easterner was an expert at reading hand movements. She flipped backwards just as her nemesis fired, saving her life and letting the bullet nick her in the shoulder. She winced for a moment then ignored the pain of the minor wound. As soon as she was back on her feet she darted through the maze of pillars in a zigzag pattern, carefully applying chakra to her legs without having it come into contact with the energy-draining floor or supports.

"What's the matter, White Eyes?!" the traitor's voice sounded off from somewhere behind her. "One little scratch and you're done?!"

"Those are some pretty nice guns!" Hinata yelled back in the hopes of antagonizing Shades, if only a little.

"Reformatted from the Raver's stuff! Best of the best!" The voice changed location, proving that she was moving just as quickly as the easterner.

"When did you find the time to do that?! Weren't you too busy planning my death?!"

She let out a laugh. "Nice try, White Eyes! You're trying to distract me, ain't ya?!"

"Worth a shot!" Her voice trailed off at the end as she gained her bearings and realized that the entrance to the chamber was nearby. She continued ducking and dodging, bloodline eyes pried for anything poking around a corner behind her. She ran up against the wall, pushed off of it, and darted for the door.

"Trying to escape are we?!" the faux smuggler berated her. "And here I thought the White Eyes of Death would be something more! Guess I was wrong!"

The blue-haired easterner dove from the cover of the sea of pillars for the only other obvious weapons in the room. She scooped the rifles into her arms as her momentum carried her into a roll. She could hear and see hot rounds exploding into the marble behind her; all of them far too close for comfort. As soon as she was upright in a crouch she swung Lorsvall's rifles behind her and fired globs of sharpened silver in Shades's direction. It was obvious that the bizarre guns were meant for saturating a target with gunfire as their accuracy was horrid, but they did the job. The backstabbing red-eye yelped in surprise and took cover behind her pillar which was slowly yet surely being burned apart by the molten metal.

"_Gotchya!_" Hinata thought in triumph. "Looks like solid energy can't be absorbed! That's why your bullets were better than mine!" She stood up and began casually walking towards the nearby traitor. "These shoot solid energy, though, so it looks like this is it for you!"

"_Fuck,_" Shades cursed mentally. "_She figured it out. And she's got the General's guns! This is bad…_"

The Hyuuga kept getting closer. She yelled over the dull 'thunks' of the late General's rifles. "Who's on top now, bitch?!"

* * *

Er... I got nothin' this time. If you haven't written a review for this story yet, feel free to do so. If you have, write another one describing your undying love and admiration for me (or lack thereof).

Like I said before, my schedule's a little... lopsided right now. Don't expect another chapter super soon, but it'll probably happen anyway. I make no promises!


	40. Bigger Bolder Better!

Herein lies... well, you'll see.

For all those participating in my art challenge, just get your stuff to me by the end of the weekend if you haven't already. I'm gonna try to get my stuff done by the end of Sunday, but I have grueling amounts of homework already (can ya believe it?!!), so I'm really just kind of hoping here...

disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me, but this plot sure does.

Warning: obligatory language warning. Seems to be a lot of this these days...

* * *

Shades was pinned by the silver gunfire. She could run back into the sea of pillars, but she knew the White Eyes of Death was not foolish enough to give chase. It was also a bad idea even as an act of prolonging her life, as the king had zero tolerance for failure and his… machinations resided within the endless rows of columns. In short, she had no future. Fear began to cloud her suppressed red-eye mind when she saw Trench burst from his cover, followed closely by Uzi wielding a previously unseen energy blade.

She raised her modified rifle against the blonde as her mind went into automatic mode. A salvo of glowing bullets left the chamber and whizzed by a ducking and dodging Uzumaki. Her autopilot consciousness was purely focused on taking out at least one enemy to gain the tyrant's apathy and failed to instantly register the sound of the firing pin clicking against an empty magazine. "_Shit…_" she thought as she absentmindedly reached for a new clip…

And was her final before Hinata rounded the corner of her cover and plastered her body with globular silver. The converted chakra killed her on contact and her warm corpse slumped to the ground.

"Tch," Trench grimaced when he saw the female intelligence officer fall in the corner of his eye. "_Well, she bought me some time…_" he observed as he leapt forward toward a recovering Naruto and thrust his sharpened shovel towards him.

Uzi punched inward with his right arm, stopping the unique blade by impaling the metal head with his energy blade. The treacherous red-eye responded by firing his edged clamp at him at point blank range, burying the tip of the weapon into the blonde's gut.

The crimson-eyed easterner shoved his right arm forward to push his wedged chakra into the traitor. His enemy foiled the attack by pulling his right arm in front, catching the corporeal energy in the gears of the launching device of his fastener. The inner workings of the machine strapped to his arm shrieked as they were rendered useless and the full length of steel cable attached to the sharpened vice uncoiled onto the ground.

"Hinata!" Naruto called. "Anytime now…!"

"You're in the way!" she answered. "I don't have a shot!"

The blonde obliged her by applying energy to his legs and leaping back as far as possible. Unfortunately, Trench was wise to the fact that distance between them meant death for him, so he flew forward as well to keep the unstable status quo.

Uzi extended his blade by another foot and delivered a wide swipe. The backstabbing red-eye ducked impossibly low to the ground as the protruding chakra burned the air above him. As soon as it passed he lunged forward with his trench shovel to slice into the blonde's stomach.

Naruto parried the weapon and initiated a stream of strikes and counterstrikes. He wasn't trained at all in the ways of close combat weaponry such as this and thanked his stars that he was at least able to keep up with the enemy specialist. But for every move he made, Trench made three. In a test of pure endurance without the use of chakra the traitor would win hands down.

After a few minutes of intense fighting, the blonde suddenly thought of a plan. It was the most unorthodox, off the wall idea he had ever conceived during a battle, but with the Hyuuga woman backing him up it could work. While fending off the assassin's rapid advances, he grasped the steel line trailing the clamp in his gut and began twirling the length of the metal cable around his left arm. After what seemed like several feet's worth bound to his arm, he concentrated on his enemy's next strike. It was a wide swing. At the last second he punched through the blade again with his crackling chakra blade. This time, however, he strained the energy, causing it to curve around the shovel head in an iron-tight grip.

"Gah!" Trench was rendered speechless upon realization that his favorite weapon was incapacitated. His immediate thoughts shifted to his broken secondary tool of death when he noticed that part of the loosed wire was coiled around Uzi's arm. "_What in the hell?_" he wondered before the blonde commenced his move.

Gripping the cable tightly, Naruto began to spin in place. He centered his weight to counterbalance with the assassin so his footwork wasn't as awkward. As he picked up speed, the traitor realized what he was trying to do. The treacherous red-eye attempted to wrench the shovel away, but the chakra blade held it firmly in place. As the blonde red-eye's velocity increased, the slightly lighter royal killer lost his grip on the shovel's handle and jolted back.

Uzi grunted when his enemy jerked back and produced a sudden force on the cable. "_This is it…!_" he thought. He began feeding energy into every muscle of his body to increase the speed of his spin. Through his ensuing dizziness he observed the traitor panicking as he struggled against the acceleration, desperately clawing in vain to unsheathe the busted gauntlet on his arm that held onto the steel line.

"Ahh!" Trench shouted in panic when he felt the incredible force on the cable begin lifting his feet off the ground. His arm felt like it was going to rip off when he became decidedly airborne. "Lemme go, lemme go!!"

"That's it!" Hinata shouted. There was now enough distance between the connected combatants to fire on the traitor. She let loose a barrage of sharpened silver into the blurring shape of Trench and didn't stop until said blur began changing color. "I got him Naruto! You can stop now!"

The blonde took a solid thirty seconds to slow his spin enough that he wouldn't hurt himself. As soon as he stopped and tried to take a step, however, he collapsed. "Oh, damn…" he mumbled. "Dizzzzy…"

The Hyuuga ran to his side and carefully removed the clamp from his stomach after determining that it was safe to do so. The wound immediately began to smoke shut from the residual chakra coursing through his body. "Are you okay?"

He laughed like a person in shock. "Never been better! You get him?" he asked as he lifted his wavering head.

She glanced back at the blood and silver coated corpse of the former assassin. "Yep. Now all that's left is…"

"Me!" sounded a voice from seemingly everywhere. The condescending exclamation of the tyrant echoed throughout the entire chamber while leaving the ruler unseen. "I must congratulate you two for coming this far! I never expected too much from my… servants, but I at least expected them to mortally wound one of you. Looks like you exceeded my expectations! I would offer you a position under me, but since you seem so… determined to dethrone your king, I have no choice…" he trailed off for a moment and the mighty roar of organs reverberated from the sea of pillars. "But to end your journey here and now!!"

Naruto got to his feet, disorientation slowly leaving him. He looked worriedly into Hinata's lavender eyes. "You ready for this?"

She nodded nervously. "Yeah, let's go."

They turned to the now empty throne and their eyes widened when they saw movement coming from every space between the columns.

Incredibly long spine-like protrusions snaked through the sides of the chambers. There were thousands of endless metal bony tubes that had no discernable source hidden somewhere within the cavalcade of pillars.

Uzi leaned his head back and groaned. "You've got to be kidding me…"

The Hyuuga hung her head as she sulked as well. "All over again…"

* * *

Ahhhh... 5 a.m... sleep.

Catch y'all round.


	41. Hail to the King Baby!

W00t! Longest chapter yet! 3,300+ words! Took a while, but there's a good reason for it... it's in the endnotes.

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the rights to the swearing that's dotting the story. Seriously!

* * *

When Hinata activated her Byakugan again, she felt a nauseating pull on her head. She immediately knew that it was related to the strain on her chakra, as she had been fighting continuously for most of the day. She took one full circle glance and was horrified by what she saw, or rather what she didn't see.

"Naruto…" she whispered to the blonde next to her. "I can't see anything…"

His head snapped to her with worry in his azure and crimson eyes. "You can't? Why? Are you injured?"

"No," she shook her head, lavender eyes still open. "I can only see one thing…"

"What is it?"

"That chakra ink. It's inside those… things," she gestured to the bladed spines snaking from the sea of pillars. "They're blocking my view. I can't even see the individual machines…"

"Then quit using your bloodline. I can see 'em just fine."

She silently obeyed as the veins around her eyes relaxed and receded. Sure enough, the writhing hordes of bonelike cords were only visible to the naked eye.

"You didn't see the king, did you?" Uzi asked in a voice no louder than a whisper.

"No," she replied similarly. "We gotta find him."

"Crap…" As soon as he decried their situation, the sound of organs exploded in a grand melody. The flowing spines broke from their random interwoven patterns and rushed the eastern duo.

Naruto ducked as Hinata held out Lorsvall's rifles in opposite directions and spun on her heel, delivering a circular barrage of sharpened silver. The horrid accuracy of the firearms didn't even slow most of the spines down as they snaked around the shots and brandished long, intricate spikes. Several bony appendages approached the blue-haired woman with blinding speed, blades shining from the lights overhead.

The Hyuuga ducked and rolled at the last possible moment. She heard the spines' blades clash with a solid metallic noise behind her as she looked over to Uzi. The blonde merely glanced at her before grasping Trench's sharp clamp in his hand and stabbing the center point into the circular implant in his left wrist. He held his arm out and, with a sudden burst of energy applied to the steel ring, shot the clamp into the high ceiling, partially elevating the dead assassin by the arm. He clutched the corpse and threw him to the side with as much force as he could muster.

Several spines rushing from above were entangled in the steel cable hanging from the roof and, in an attempt to loose themselves, ripped the fastener from the ceiling while lifting Trench's body off the ground. The cord only caused more incoming bony appendages to get caught in the large knot being formed by the frantic movements of the bonelike machines. The assassin's body had much the same affect, as his rising corpse blocked many spines as the machines impaled it on their way towards the eastern duo.

At the first signs of entanglement, the blonde red-eye scooped up the damaged trench shovel and, while swinging and stabbing to parry the advancing protrusions, charged towards Shades's body. Hinata saw his movements from the corner of her eye and followed, silver-spewing rifles firing in all directions behind them to keep the bonelike devices at bay.

Upon reaching the former intelligence officer's corpse, Naruto grasped the modified rifle and unlatched her ammo belt. He saw that no magazine was inserted and fixed that problem by slamming a new one in and pulling the slide back. As soon as a bullet entered the chamber he took aim at the nearest bladed spines and fired a salvo of bright shots.

The Hyuuga approached him with her newly acquisitioned firearms still spitting out globular silver in random directions. "What do we do now?!" she shouted over the gunfire and grand noise of the organ pipes.

"Get to the throne first!!" he yelled back before ejecting the now empty clip and inserting a new one. A sharpened blade appeared before him and he whacked it away with the shovel head. "Then find out where that damn organ is!!" He dropped the unique weapon for a moment and grabbed Shades's corpse by the back of the uniform. After tossing her in the direction of the elevated chair, he snatched the shovel again and shouted, "Move!!"

The eastern duo moved in perfect synch as they charged to the royal seat. The female traitor's body was reduced to hand sized hunks of bloody meat by the time they passed it, but it provided them with a few precious seconds as they scaled the ordinary stairs of the throne. As soon as they reached the top they dove over it, causing the following spines to either fly over them or thoroughly fill the manmade hill with holes.

At first their focus was on the slowly disappearing chair behind them, then the new spines protruding from the columns behind the throne. As soon as their attention directed itself to the back wall, however, their eyes went wide with a mixture of shock and awe.

Located against the rear wall of the chamber sat a massive organ. As the tyrant sat at its base playing the grandiose tune, the sound reverberated through the incredible pipes and burst through with utter brilliance. Upon further inspection, dozens of pipes both large and small trailed off into the abyss of pillars, carrying the thundering music even further. The wooden structure holding the instrument in place was constructed from beautifully embroidered mahogany and the sweet smell of pine tinted the air. If it weren't for the dangerous situation and the lethal purpose of the organ, the grand instrument would have been a breathtaking sight to behold.

For the smallest of moments, the eastern duo was entranced by the view. Hinata felt a small tear well up in her eye and Naruto's shoulders didn't feel as stiff when they gazed upon the king's glorious musical weapon. But as quickly as it came, their awe dissipated.

Uzi aimed the modified rifle with one arm against the tyrant and pulled the trigger. As soon as the firing pin ignited the shell casing, the ruler shifted to another key and a slew of spines formed a broken wall between them. There were still plenty of gaps through which bullets could pass through unhindered, but they were rapidly being filled with more bony appendages bursting through to join their mechanical brethren on the other side.

"Get to the pillars!!" the Hyuuga ordered. Both easterners were on their feet and off the heightened throne in seconds, firearms blazing and shovel swinging.

"Trade one!!" the blonde shouted, throwing his rifle at his companion and receiving one of Lorsvall's firearms in return. He ran ahead of the blue-haired woman into a gap in the columns and pummeled everything in their way with sharpened silver.

The White Eyes of Death swung the late General's other rifle behind her with her right arm to provide cover fire while balancing Shades's rifle with her right limb. Since the red-eyed easterner's current ranged weapon produced inaccurate rapid fire, bladed spines would be bypassed by the solid shiny chakra. The traitor's weapon, however, did not suffer that weakness, and Hinata exploited it by taking care of the stray bonelike machines.

After a few minutes of being bogged down and one shovel later, the easterners reached the makeshift spine wall. After a short bout of cursing, Uzi poured his dwindling energy into the lengthened tattoo of his right arm and formed another chakra blade. He jammed it into a gap in the hopes of prying the bony cords apart, forgetting that they carried the energy-absorbing ink as well. His legs almost buckled under the sudden intense drain before he cut off the energy to his arm.

"Shit!" the Hyuuga yelled out. "You okay?!"

"Yeah, yeah…" he gasped, clearly winded. "Bad move…" he pointed Lorsvall's gun at the makeshift wall and fired at point blank range. "Gimme a sec…"

"Make it quick!" She wasn't so much impatient as she was worried that they would be overcome by the deadly spines. She swung around, literally back to back with the red-eye, and kept up as much suppressing fire as she could, even though the advance of the bony appendages was getting closer and closer…

"Gah!!" Naruto shouted in agony. Hinata peered over her should, fingers still on the triggers, to see what was wrong. Another gap had opened and a fancy spiked spine had stabbed into the blonde's right shoulder. Uzi overcame the pain and, still tearing the bony wall apart with Lorsvall's silver fire, reached up and grasped the spike with his left hand. With a grunt, he pulled the blade free from his flesh and, struggling against the great force of the machine, jammed it into the nearest pillar. He noted that the spine suddenly went slack upon cutting into the column when the fox's energy began to heal the wound. "I got it! Let's go!" he commanded when the silver shots finally melted the bony appendages away.

The duo continued their familiar pattern of the blonde red-eye taking point while the blue-haired easterner provided covering fire. After a few minutes, they reached what they presumed to be the back wall. Their belief was confirmed when the contained noise of organ music passed by in several pipes strapped to the wall.

"We're almost there!" the Hyuuga yelled even though she knew the blonde didn't need to hear it from her. "Just left of us!"

As Naruto banked left, he decided to shoot one of the pipes on a whim. "_Couldn't hurt anything…_" he though as he pulled the trigger. Upon contact, the sharpened silver sliced the tube with a gush of air. Suddenly, a handful of spines dropped lifelessly to the ground. "_How did I not see that?!_" his tired mind screamed at him. "Shoot the pipes!"

Hinata obeyed and swung Shade's rifle to the side, emptying its clip into a set of tubes. She tossed Lorsvall's second weapon ahead of her and Uzi caught it as she loaded a fresh, and final, magazine into the modified firearm. She took quick aim again and drilled holes into the remaining pipes without issue, unless bladed spines falling to the ground was considered a problem. When the firing pin clicked against the empty clip, she lobbed the useless weapon into a still functioning bony cord, delaying its attack by a few seconds.

They cleared the pillars and were intoxicatingly close to the tyrant on his bench. The red-eye raised the late General's weapon and opened fire on the organ itself. The king's expression didn't change as he shifted his melody and more bony tubes raced to defend the instrument. But, accuracy not withstanding, several shots of silver passed through the hasty airborne barricade into the massive pipes.

The White Eyes followed her crush's lead and opened fire on the beautiful musical tool. As more and more tubes burst open in a flurry of heated air, the more bladed spines obeyed the laws of gravity and crashed to the ground. After several minutes of this interchange, most of the tubes were rendered useless and the frequency of bony machines was at a manageable level.

Hinata took advantage of the situation and unleashed a barrage of sharpened silver into the console of keyboards, causing a sudden explosion of steam to erupt from the base of the instrument. She instantly saw the results of her plan as the remaining spines dropped to ground, adding another layer of bony structures to the crowded floor.

Before the leader could escape his seat, Naruto charged forward and, forming an energy blade with his right arm, impaled the crooked ruler through the chest. The tyrant hacked up a mouthful of dark blood as his dark mauve eyes turned to view the blonde.

"Ah…" he coughed up some more blood. "Well done… red-eye…"

"You deserve it, bastard," Uzi responded calmly, his serene demeanor meant more so to show true punishment rather than respect for a fallen enemy. "Say 'hi' to Lorsvall for me."

The tyrant's mouth cracked a small grin in between vocal convulsions. "Tell… him… yourself…" His brilliant violet eyes stared blankly into the azure and crimson eyes of Naruto as he summoned the last of his strength and tapped a key with his index finger. There was an audible click as key sank deep into the console and the ruler's dead hand fell away.

"What was that?" the Hyuuga inquired nervously about the sound as she strode towards the red-eye. The blonde dissipated his weak blade and scanned the room like a scared rabbit.

"I… don't know…" he replied apprehensively, not knowing what to think. "We should get outta here…" he was interrupted by a sudden tremor.

They both glanced over to the throne at the center of the chamber. The granite and marble stone of the structure cracked and fell to the ground with a mighty crash to reveal something underneath. It was a machine roughly the same shape as the royal chair that concealed it, and small lights that formed a line across the top blinked on and off.

"What is that?" Uzi asked no one in particular as he and Hinata walked over the dead spines towards the device. As they neared it, there was a low beeping noise.

The blue-haired woman's eyes went wide when she realized what the sound indicated. "It's a bomb!"

Naruto's head snapped around to gaze at her with alarmed eyes. "It is?!"

"Yes! Run!!"

The eastern duo threw their acquisitioned guns to the ground and ran as swiftly as their exhausted legs could carry them towards the massive entrance doors. They made it to the opening in twenty seconds and took another three to open the damn things when the beeping noises began getting louder and increasing in pace. The device was a 'dead-man's' weapon and would go off in a short while… a _very_ short while.

They charged through the embroidered hallway that led to the throne room when the noises became deafening and strung together to form a loud squeal. There was no time left.

Uzi suddenly grabbed Hinata by the waist and pulled out what was left of his energy tails. The lift was out of the question, so he decided to take the only other option available. He shot his weakened tails forward and struck the wall with as much force as he could muster. He felt the drain on his chakra and ignored the instinct to pull back, instead forcing more energy into the non-corporeal appendages. The wall eventually gave, revealing the outside world to the long hallway.

"Hang on!" he shouted as he leapt through the makeshift opening, eastern companion still in his arms. He curled his tails around them as a shield, shut his eyes tight along with the Hyuuga, and prayed.

No sooner had the duo felt the wind brushing against them did they feel an intense heat rush over them. Their eyes were glued shut as the explosion enveloped them in a blinding light. Naruto could feel the force against his energy barrier but strained every muscle in his body to resist dropping it. After a few intense seconds, the heat began to dissipate and the light dimmed.

They opened their eyes and peered back at the tower as Uzi released the energy appendages. The top of the massive tower was missing and the remains were engulfed in flames. There was nothing left of their indoor battlefield.

The duo then looked down at their newest problem: height. They were in freefall several thousands of feet above ground with no way of stopping or slowing their descent. They could apply chakra to their bodies to absorb some of the impact, but their reserves were almost entirely gone; it wouldn't save them.

"You okay?!" he shouted above the gusting of the wind to his companion.

"Yeah!" she replied. "How about this?!" she pointed down.

"Lemme see…" he extended his tails to bury them into a skyscraper or two. The blast had thrown them outwards a bit into a slightly undamaged part of the city. His mind froze in horror when his energy appendages only came out a few feet. There was no chakra left for him to use. If he were to pull more from the fox, he ran a high risk of unleashing its consciousness as well, and that would provide a whole new set of problems.

He turned to face the white-eyed easterner and gave her an apologetic look of deep regret. "I'm so sorry…" he said with tears forming at his eyes. "There's just nothing left…"

She smiled sadly at the blonde with tears also welling in the corners of her white eyes. "It's okay, Naruto. I least I can die with you…"

The easterners embraced each other closely as the ground became closer. They closed their eyes to revel in the last precious moments they had together. The thousands of feet quickly became hundreds and rapidly counted down.

They were surprised that death was so quiet and not as violent as they thought. Instead of feeling their bodies crush against the ground, all they felt was a sudden jolt followed by a feeling of lightness. Their watery eyes opened to see what the afterworld was like.

At first all they saw was the sky. Then buildings and towers populated the scene as they moved upwards. They glanced down at each other and, through the corners of their eyes, saw tan wool flapping in the wind as their trajectory changed.

"Phew!" a smooth, quirky voice spoke from the side. "I got you guys just in time!"

The azure and crimson eyes as well as the lavender lenses slowly turned to be met with a familiar pair of golden eyes.

"S- Silba?!" Hinata squeaked in surprise. "When did you get here?!"

"Just now!" she smiled brightly at the duo in her arms. "I thought you might need some help, so…"

"How did you find us?!" Naruto asked with equal shock in his voice.

"I saw the explosion and just knew it was you! You guys are real hellraisers!"

The silver-haired lycanthrope bounced between buildings as she gradually brought the easterners safely to the ground. As soon as their feet touched the earth, she released her iron grasp on them.

"Silba…" Uzi began, still awed by what transpired. "I… don't know how to thank you…"

"There's no need," her smiling face adopted a look of satisfied humility. "Both of you showed me mercy when I gave none. You offered me a second chance, and I owe you everything for that."

"Thank you, Silba." The Hyuuga grasped the werewolf in a strong hug. "Thank you so much."

The former enemy returned the gesture before breaking loose. "Well, if you'll excuse me…" Her bright smile returned. "I have some soldiers to command! Besides, I feel a little more sluggish these days…"

The eastern duo smiled back at the newly pregnant woman as she scurried off. They were surprised by the abrupt appearance of the woman, yet grateful that she came to repay a debt the way she did.

"Rather impressive," a bored voice sounded off from above them. "Naruto Uzumaki."

They shot around to locate the voice's owner to find a man dressed in a black robe atop a leveled building.

"And who are you?" Uzi returned with a rasp in his voice rather than the yell he would have preferred. He was too tired for that.

"Itachi!" another set of lungs called out from behind another bombed out structure. The war-torn figure scaled the ruins and glared at the Sharingan user with similar bloodline eyes. "I finally found you!"

The unharmed Uchiha looked towards his younger brother. "Sasuke," he stated impassively. "I see you also survived this battle. What have you seen?"

The avenging easterner's skin began to form flaming tattoos of some sort. As he angled his short sword at the older ninja he calmly claimed, "I have seen your death."

Naruto shut his weary eyes for a moment. "Shit…" he mumbled. "I forgot about him…"

Hinata nudged him and asked no louder than a whisper, "What should we do?"

He looked at the older man, clearly seeing that he had stayed away from battle, and then glanced at his dark follower whom he knew had been fighting the whole time. "We gotta fight him…" he answered with a sigh.

* * *

And there you have it. I wanted to get the fight with the king over in a hurry, just 'cuz. There's better things out there... (hehehe...)

Alright, more news: I have lotsa homework this weekend, and I absolutely, positively, **_have_** to do it. There's a slight possibility that this may be the last chapter for the weekend, so treat it as such. I mean, c'mon, it's the longest chapter yet!!

Yeah, and this story's only a few more chapters away from completion (think... less than 10, maybe more than 5 chapters...?). But ph34r n0t!! There is a sequel in the works... if you liked this story, you'll love the continuation of it...

Peace out!


	42. Kickin' it back and Bringin' it forward!

Not as long as the last chapter, but I ain't aimin' for length! Go ahead and read on!

I don't own Naruto and, since y'all know how my mind works by now, I'm not posting any more language warnings. Just expect it from here on out.

* * *

Kisame casually leaned against the roof access on a nearby building. He was watching the events unfold below as the Uchiha brothers began their sibling quarrel before Itachi could make a move on the weakened Uzumaki. His scaly sword sat to his side against the wall as he sighed in the overall frustration of his westward mission.

"_Looks like the Nine-tailed container and the younger Uchiha are weaker than usual…_" he observed. "_Well, we've been stayin' outta this fight, so there won't be anymore problems…_" His train of thought was interrupted upon the arrival of a younger man wielding a large blade standard to the swordsmen of his former village.

"Kisame Hoshigaki," the man smiled, revealing his sharpened teeth. "I've been lookin' for you."

"Oh?" the fish man responded nonchalantly. "And you would be…?"

"Suigetsu Hozuki," he answered while bringing his sword to bear. "Whaddya say we party a bit while we wait?"

The former Mist swordsman grinned as he grasped the Samehada and started toward the challenger. "Sure thing," he replied. Truthfully, he was itching for a fight. He had been denied this simple pleasure for too long.

The foreigners stood tall and ready, each anticipating their opponent's move before attempting to strike. Their muscles tensed ever so slightly as their minds told them to move before registering a new event. The roof suddenly shook, diverting their attention to the side. A man rose from the small crater his landing had created. Apparently, he had been several hundred feet above them on the adjacent building before deciding to join them.

They glanced at the man, giving him the once-over with curious eyes. The newcomer wore long, shaft like armor from the neck down, every inch of it scratched, burned, and slightly melted. The man's red eyes flashed brightly as the wind blew against his dry brown hair and he raised a long, smooth sword that curved into a wide arc at the tip.

"I see you both fancy yourselves swordsmen," he remarked with impassive features. "How about we test your skills?"

"And who are you?" Kisame demanded, face scrunched up with mild annoyance.

A smile cracked on the red-eye's lips. "Daemon Laven, ruler of the demon slayers of the North. Shall we dance?" With that, all three blade masters began their complicated three-way fight.

"_These guys aren't hacks,_" Daemon thought. "_But if this is all they got, I'm disappointed._" He easily ducked under a wild swing of the Samehada and lurched forward to stab Suigetsu. "_Looks like this blue guy's partner is targeting Naruto and Hinata._" He peered at his comrades out of the corner of his eye before sensing a sudden rise in energy from Hoshigaki. "_Damn! Looks like there's no one to help them out at the moment! I can't finish off this fish guy until he's used up all his energy. Sorry guys…_"

The red-eyed demon slayer charged his body and blades with heated energy and the battle only escalated from there.

---------------------------

The eastern duo gazed in amazement at the skirmish before their eyes. At first, the Uchiha brothers merely stared at each other with Sharingan eyes, each of them performing completely unnecessary and somewhat comical moves. They would jab at the air or debris as if fighting invisible opponents.

"What in the hell?" Naruto voiced his confusion.

"I think that's their bloodline at work," Hinata informed. She wasn't certain of the details herself, but what she heard from Karin suggested that the performance before her eyes was the work of extensive genjutsu. "Wait," she realized, "Where's Karin?!" she called out to Sasuke.

"Got caught by a soldier!" he shouted back in a rush before clashing blades with his older sibling. "Now get out of here!"

"Like hell we will…" Uzumaki commented while slamming his foot down on a protruding stock, jolting a firearm up into his arms. He analyzed it for a few seconds to determine if it had any ammunition left then aimed it at the warring twosome. He let loose a salvo of unadulterated bullets at Itachi…

And was forced to dodge a spear of energy that suddenly extended towards him. "Stay out of this!!" the avenging easterner screamed. "This is _my_ fight!!"

"Look at you!" the blonde continued the argument. "You're a mess!"

"So are you!" he retorted.

"Look at him!" Uzi pointed at the elder brother. "He's fresh! You can't hope to beat him!"

The younger Sharingan user glared at him for a second. "_This is my fight, Uzumaki!!_" he shrieked like a madman. "_And you will not interfere!!_"

"Tch!" the red-eyed easterner grimaced to no one. "Damn fool…" he muttered before turning to the Hyuuga. "Hey Hinata, can you still use your ability?"

She urged her eyes to enhance but felt no response. She ran her hands through the proper seals, an action she had no need to perform for many years, and still nothing happened. Shaking her head, she replied, "I can't. There's just no chakra left."

"Oh damn." He went silent for a moment to think. "Well, we gotta help him out any way we can. There's no way in hell Sasuke's takin' down that other guy in the shape he's in."

She nodded. "But if we help him he'll attack us, and if he does we won't have any chakra left to counter anything."

"Then… we hide," he concluded. "Take potshots while under cover. Doesn't matter how pissed Sasuke gets, but he needs our help to have a prayer in hell."

"Sounds like a plan," she agreed while shouldering a dead dark soldier's long rifle. "You lead the way."

Naruto nodded and took off towards a damaged building with Hinata in tow. They scaled the exposed stairway, ducking behind a support along the way to avoid being showered by a hail of shuriken. As soon as they made it to the fifth floor, they stopped behind an impromptu barricade in the form of a fallen concrete column before being skewered by another slew of ninja stars.

"Hold on!" Uzi exclaimed. "I got an idea. You keep watch." He pulled his torn jacket off and laid it on the floor as the blue-haired woman edged her weapon over the pillar. The blonde began scooping up the shuriken and dumping a few into the center of his garment before disassembling his weapon with his remaining chakra. After unwinding the spring and freeing the firing mechanism, he started pulling the rounds from their casings and dumping the gunpowder into his jacket. After covering up the mound of explosive material with more shuriken and wrapping his shirt around the firing apparatus, he had constructed a simple shrapnel bomb.

"How's it look?" he asked as his attention turned back to the battle.

"Hasn't changed," she replied. "Fight's moving towards us."

"Perfect." After waiting for an eternity of seconds, Uzi charged towards the edge of the hollow floor and tossed the cloth and steel bomb at Itachi. He darted behind an outer support and yanked back on the fully extended wire. The looped metal string squeezed the trigger and the firing pin slammed into an empty cartridge, igniting the fist sized ball of gunpowder and sending the older opponent's weapons flying in every direction.

However, the red-eyed easterner had no time to revel in his actions. As soon as he turned his head back to Hinata, Itachi was on him. The blonde fell to his knees and narrowly avoided a kunai slashing his throat.

The Hyuuga saw her crush's situation and opened fire on the Uchiha. The man simply burst into a gaggle of crows and disappeared. The instant afterward brought a crackling of electricity upon the ground under the white-eyed easterner. She rolled back and reduced the amount of current running through her body.

"I said to stay out of it!" Sasuke was standing near Uzi's weary body. "Do I have to kill you too?!"

The white-eyed woman merely regarded him with tired eyes. She didn't have it in her to argue. The hate-consumed easterner leapt off the level to continue the battle with his brother while Naruto shambled over to a recovering Hyuuga.

"Shit! Are you okay, Hinata?!"

"Yeah," she coughed as she forced herself to her feet. "Yeah, just got the wind knocked outta me…" She looked pleadingly into his azure and crimson eyes before speaking again. "I… I don't think we can do this. We need help."

"I know," he replied, resignation in his voice. "But there's no one available right now. We're stuck. Besides, they don't even know we're here…"

"I wouldn't count on that!" called a raspy voice from the other end of the desecrated floor. "You never know who's listening…"

The eastern duo glanced back to find a familiar face. "Sanvatas!" Naruto exclaimed. "Wh- what are you doing here?!"

"Felt a strong presence here." The older Agende Vhansin leader hung his arms casually with his hands in his pockets. "Figured I'd check it out."

"Why are you alone? Where's the rest of your family?"

"Still fighting," he replied with an unwavering calm. "Or eating. Took a lot out of us fighting those black troops."

"We need your help," Hinata intervened. "We've got no energy left and that guy dressed in black out there wants us dead."

"That's why I'm here," he smiled to reveal sharp teeth and a bloodstained smile. It was unnerving. His eyes suddenly burned brightly along with the blonde's. "Looks like you're needed elsewhere, Uzi."

Naruto's crimson eyes returned to their normal luminosity with a mixture of shock and sadness. "Yeah… yeah." He stood and hoisted his companion onto his back. "I'll see you later."

"I'll hold 'em off for ya," Sanvatas replied as he strolled to the nonexistent window.

"I owe you one," Uzi calmly said to the bloodline specialist before charging back down the ruined stairs and away from the Uchiha battle.

"Oh… this outta be fun!" the Agende Vhansin exclaimed to himself as his energy clamped him to the side of the building. He began casually walking down on his vertical plane towards the sibling skirmish with a bloody smile etched on his wide-eyed face. "So much fun!"

---------------------------

"Where are we going?" the Hyuuga inquired of the blonde as he carried her to a destination unknown to her.

"Master Sünden called," he replied sullenly.

"For what?"

He took a deep breath and sighed. "He called all the apprentices together. His seal's about to give and he needs to transfer his power now."

Hinata's eyes looked into the infinite distance as she recalled her crush's duty. She had been dreading this day out of sheer worry for her beloved, and now it was here. Closing her eyes, she uttered the quietest of prayers. "Please," she muttered to whoever was listening, "Let him be safe…"

* * *

Du Du Duuuuuuuu!

What will happen to our hero as a new power is instilled within him?!

What is the fate of the leader of the Agende Vhansin as he takes on the surviving Uchihas??!

And just how long will my whisky last before this story comes to an end???!

Tune in next time to find out the answer to at least one of these! Only on 'Lost'!!

Sorry, couldn't resist. Well, only a few chapters left! Enjoy 'em while they last.


	43. Light in the black! Or just black!

j0! Howzzit goin?

What happened to all the reviewers?? Ah well, the hit count is the same as before, so I guess you're around.

same old news: I don't own Naruto. Just this story. And Bingo was his name-o.

* * *

After a few minutes of running and eventually being transported by nearby comrades, Naruto and Hinata arrived at an impromptu clearing in what used to be the downtown area of the capital. As the duo hobbled tiredly onto the massive concrete slab that was previously a factory wall, they saw several red-eyes established in a perimeter around the gathered apprentices and Sünden. The original crimson-eyed specialist was lying prone on the cool ground, breathing slowly and calmly despite the apparent pain that contorted his face.

"I see you're all here now," the Master spoke softly as his eyes glanced at the arriving easterners. "That's good. Shall we begin?"

"Master Sünden…" Uzi's words trailed off when his mind wouldn't verbalize his thoughts. His eyes flashed for a moment transferring his thoughts and emotions to the dying westerner.

Sünden smiled back in his kindly manner. "I know, I know. But we all knew this would happen eventually. May as well make it worthwhile."

"Master Sünden," Sheila said as she knelt to his side and laid her spiraling silver spear to the side. The calm wind ruffled her torn embroidered clothes as tears appeared in her eyes. "Thank you so much. You've done a lot for us…"

He lifted his hand placed it on her shoulder. "You grew into a beautiful woman, Sheila. I wish you the best in life."

Daemon stood resolutely over his ruler and held his already drawn blade erect against his face. "Master Sünden," he announced with friendly formality, "May you rest in the everlasting peace of heaven."

The dying man chuckled a bit. "You as well, Daemon. You're an excellent defender of mankind's souls. May your life be filled with happiness and joy."

Vahre Blus remained silent as he said his goodbyes through his blazing crimson eyes. His face portrayed a look of dwindling sadness and no more; although the Hyuuga could have sworn she saw a tear tugging at the corner of his eye.

"And farewell to you, my apprentice. I pray your long life will be filled with peace and grace."

The vampire nodded. "You shall be missed, Master Sünden."

"And Naruto," the progenitor red-eye turned to the blonde easterner and smiled. "You came a long ways and endured many hardships. I hope that from here on out your days will be lived in peace."

Uzi stood there, saying nothing as tears escaped his eyes and caressed his cheek. After an eternity of a few seconds, he finally spoke. "You've gone out of your way to help people like me; given us a second chance. I…" he choked. "I can't thank you enough."

"And you'll never have to," he responded with a sad smile. "Now get into position. I don't think I can hold these guys off much longer."

The red-eye specialists obeyed and stood in a cross pattern with Sünden in the center. Their eyes flared brightly and each specialist held out his or her open palms towards the dying man.

With obvious effort, Sünden opened his mouth to voice his final words. "I'll see you guys up ahead…"

"_**What are you doing?!**_" a panicked screeching chorus interrupted. The instant after, the master's body lurched upwards and pitch black inky smoke poured from every available opening. The jet black mist evenly split into four paths and rushed into the hands of the waiting red-eyes, obscuring their palms as it was absorbed into their bodies. The darkness screamed bloody murder as it was housed in its new prisons.

During the entire ceremony, Hinata all but bit her thumb off out of nervousness. Needless to say, she was concerned about the safety of the blonde red-eye, and the deafening shrieks of evil energy did nothing to ease her fear. She shut her eyes tightly and prayed to whoever was listening for everything to go well. Time passed unmarked in her mind and before she knew it, the process was finished. She opened her eyes to find that nothing appeared to have changed.

"Well," Daemon spoke sullenly, "I've got some things to finish up. See you guys later." With that, he sliced at the air with his smooth sword and it 'opened'. He stepped through the rift and disappeared before it closed, leaving behind a faint whisper of ebony smoke.

"Take care of his body," Vahre Blus ordered the red-eyes attending to the late master's corpse. "We'll have a proper funeral when we're finished here." He nodded to Sheila and they departed the scene to complete their respective objectives.

"N-Naruto?" the Hyuuga approached the blonde from the side with apprehension in her step. "Are… are you okay…?"

Uzi lifted his right hand and stared at it for a moment.

-------------------------

"**What did you do?!**" the fox raged against his cage, screaming at the top of his lungs. "**Insolent boy! Do you know what you have wrought?!**"

"Yeah, I know…" he replied as he sat down with his back against the cage. "No use gettin' all pissy about it now, though."

The nine-tailed beast calmed himself slightly. He knew that if he was to keep the darkness from consuming the blonde and himself, he needed to possess a calm and concentrated mind. "**Things are going to be a lot harder now…**"

Naruto laid his head back against the cage and saw the lights of his mental prison flickering off one by one. As each fixture failed, a void filled with glossy yellow eyes filled the space. "Yeah, I know…"

"**This will be the test,**" the demon observed as the final light above him and his container began to flicker. "**If we die, I'll torment your soul forever.**"

Uzi smiled. "If," he pointed out. The fixture sputtered and died, casting the easterner and his tenant into the shrieking darkness of evil eyes.

-------------------------

"Naruto," the white-eyed woman pleaded. "Please say something…"

His lips parted in the widest possible smile and he turned his head to gaze upon her. She flinched at the sight.

"Hey, Hinata!" he exclaimed gleefully. The right side of his face was burning with ebony fire that made night seem like day by comparison. "I've never felt better! How about you?"

She calmed her breathing when she felt that she was about to hyperventilate. "_Okay,_" she consoled herself. "_He knows who I am. That means he's coherent and might be in a stable frame of mind…_"

"I- I'm fine," she replied with a forced smile, hoping that her assumptions were correct. What happened next surprised her.

Naruto frowned. "Oh, c'mon! What's with all the stuttering? You're scared, aren't you?" He strode up to her and stood tall, the visible part of his face showing something akin to compassion. "Everything's fine. The fox is balancing out the darkness, so I can use it without losing my mind. So please, don't be afraid." He placed his hands around her arms in a gentle yet firm grip.

At that moment, she felt at ease. This was the blonde she knew, even if his appearance was slightly different. "Yeah," she said softly. "I can do that."

His wide smile returned with renewed vigor. "Great!" He suddenly pulled her close and grasped her around the waist. "Now hold on, we still have to take care of that Uchiha!"

Hinata gasped as the red-eye suddenly melted into dark smoke and, still holding onto her somehow, shot through the air with incredible speed. The ebony fog hovered below the clouds for a moment before locating the quarreling brothers and melting towards the ground. The Hyuuga was alarmed by the fact that Uzumaki, while he still held onto her tightly, was non-corporeal. He was, for the moment, a massive stream of inky black haze.

The misty shadow slammed into the ground and parted as smoke would, gently letting the easterner down as it did so. As soon as the woman turned to locate the brothers, Naruto had reformed from the darkness and stood next to her.

"Sanvatas!" he exclaimed upon spotting the apparently unharmed Agende Vhansin leader. "Where are they?!"

"Back there," he gestured with his head, hands still in his pockets. "So… Master Uzi now, eh? Quite a title there…"

"Sorry to interrupt," the White Eyes interjected. "But are you injured?"

He shot a blood-stained grin at her. "Nah! Turns out my family's abilities are something of a natural counter to theirs." He laughed. "Both of 'em tried using mind games on me, but I turned it around and gave them a taste of their own medicine!"

"Really?" Uzi said dully. "Sounds like you had fun."

"Not really. That's the only thing special about them. Kinda boring, actually." He began strolling away casually. "I'll leave 'em up to you. Seems the older one's got a beef with you anyway."

"Right. See ya later!" He clutched Hinata by the waist again, melted into impenetrable mist, and passed over the Agende Vhansin's previous trail. Within seconds, the warring siblings were in sight. He let the Hyuuga down behind a concrete wall and reformed his body. "Alright, stay here. I'm gonna go finish this."

"What?" she argued. "No! I'm going with you!"

"Fine," he gave instantly. "But you're in no shape to fight." He gazed into her lavender eyes and saw the worry imbedding in them. "Relax, I'll be fine. That Itachi guy won't even be able to touch me." With that, he stepped out from cover and revealed himself to the Uchihas.

"That was quick!" Sasuke shouted. Strange tattoos had formed on his skin and he was practically leaking chakra. "Decided not to run away?!"

Uzi chuckled at the weak insult. "Nope! In fact, I came back to finish what he started…" He pointed to the older Sharingan user.

"And what can you hope to accomplish, Naruto Uzumaki?" Itachi inquired quietly.

"This!" The blonde's eyes went wide and inky mist poured from his body, enveloping him in an indistinguishable cloud of darkness. "_**And now,**_" he spoke in a multitude of screeching voices. "_**You're gonna die!!**_"

* * *

Hey! Still enjoying it? Lemme know with a review!

I'd say: Bare minimum of two chapters left. Most likely though, there'll be three of four.

Also, since I've been such a lazy bastard, I'm gonna post the contest results with my own stuff once this story comes to a close. I've already got my rough sketch figured out, so all that's left is inking and some photoshoppin'.

Catch ya'll 'round!


	44. Faster and Higher Exciting Desire!

Phew. A little longer than the norm. Good thing, too. Gets more out of the way. I can pretty much guarantee a bare minimum of 2 chapters left!

same old crap: I don't own Naruto. But let's face it, it'd be so much better if I did!

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"Damnit, Naruto!!" Sasuke yelled. "This is _my_ fight! How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of it?!"

The blonde easterner swung his head around and glared at the younger Uchiha. The only indication that he even turned at all was the swiveling of two glossy dots that were in place of his eyes. Before the ebony mist completely enveloped and obscured him from view, he replied, "_**How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?!**_" Uzi's familiar voice was now comprised of thousands of shouts and whispers speaking simultaneously. "_**You're too weak to survive him, and you don't even realize it!! Fool!!**_" The sickly yellow eyes disappeared as the unholy fog engulfed the red-eye and began to move with a life of its own.

"_You son of a…_" the avenging man thought as he manipulated his Sharingan to enter the interloper's mind and suppress his chakra. He blinked and found himself standing before what appeared to be a massive gate. Squinting through the darkness, he observed the nine-tailed fox standing behind the bars, pouring energy to a figure seated at the base of the jail. "_Bingo,_" he mused inwardly as he started towards the silhouette.

A grin of morbid satisfaction crossed his face as he brought his arm forward and prepared to temporarily seal away the blonde's power. His revelry, however, was short lived. The moment he approached the man seated at the gate, he heard a cascade of voices.

"_**Who the hell is this little turd?!**_" thousands of intense screams and dulcet murmurs spoke ate once.

"_**I don't think he's supposed to be here…**_" a bored ensemble answered. "_**You guys can take care of him.**_"

Sasuke felt a trail of… something swirling around him. "_**That's a really nice sword,**_" a soft-spoken multitude commented. "_**And such a pretty shade of purple on your belt…**_"

Another wisp of impossibly dark smoke caressed him. "_**He's a handsome young man.**_" This chorus spoke in alluring tones as if it were trying to seduce him. "_**How about we let him… stay… for a little while?**_"

"_**Hey, can I have that sword?!**_" an excited 'voice' interrupted._** "How about those tattoos?!**_"

"_**Cram it, Invidia,**_" a high-and-mighty chorus scolded from a distance. "_**We should probably get rid of him. I don't care to get my hands dirty though, so one of you do it.**_"

"_**Not it,**_" the lazy ensemble instantly called.

"_**I'll do it!!**_" boomed a boisterous choir from an uncomfortably near distance. "_**I'm starving!!**_"

"_**He's mine!!**_" a spiteful multitude shrieked. "_**I'll kill this little shit!!**_" A sound similar to the rushing of wind drowned out everything else and an intense cloud, invisible in the pitch black chamber, shot forward with freakish tenacity.

The Uchiha began to panic. He reflexively backed up as he felt the air displaced by the murderous mist brush against him and his mind stopped when he almost stumbled over the sitting figure. His head darted back to the silhouette as it lifted its head to gaze at him with azure and crimson eyes.

"How you likin' it now, Uchiha?!" Naruto asked with a smirk on his face. His lips parted as he leaned his head back and began laughing like an escaped mental patient. The uncountable thousands of voices began laughing in turn before the Sharingan user dispelled the technique and returned to reality with a sudden sigh of relief.

While no time had passed in Uzi's mind, the blonde hidden inside the cloud was still laughing, albeit his voice now being a chorus of thousands. "_What the hell was that?!_" Sasuke wondered. "_Did he just repel me from his subconscious??_"

The snickering died and the mist suddenly shot towards Itachi with ink black tendrils emerging from within to snatch the older man. The eastern criminal leapt back and landed on the side of a nearby ruin. The sharp non-corporeal tentacles angled sharply as if underwater and continued their pursuit with the all-encompassing fog following closely behind.

The rogue Konoha ninja merely replaced his body with a lump of concrete at the last second and disappeared from sight. The inky strands corkscrewed into the debris before the cloud smashed against the building. The weakened structure's supports gave and it crumbled to the ground. As the dust rushed outwards, the unholy mist rose with it, spreading itself in every direction in search of its target. In the center of all this stood the likeness of a man shrouded in the darkest of voids, uncountable numbers of shadowy fibers reverberating around him like an untamed fire. The glossy eyes slowly wandered from side to side in an attempt to find their prey. Unsatisfied, the figure recollected the ebony fog around itself and billowed through the wreckage like a tidal wave.

Hinata crouched in terror where Naruto left her. She heard the mad laughing of her crush and couldn't help but feel fear for her life as well as the blonde's. Tears tugged at her eyes begging to be let loose, but she held them in check simply because she was too frightened to cry. She saw that the brothers promptly vanished as soon as Uzi went on the move, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it due to her severe chakra drain. When she saw the unbound shadows rolling towards her, her instincts told her to run or otherwise get out of the way, but her feet were bolted to the ground. Her mind went blank as the shock of everything that day finally caught up to her alongside the approaching mass of dark mist.

As soon as the unholy cloud reached her, several tendrils flowed forth and settled onto her skin. She froze when she felt cold and hot sensations simultaneously wherever the black veins touched her. Feeling the evil energy attempting to enter, she unconsciously resisted and pushed back. "_This is it,_" her brain coldly concluded. "_I'm gonna die now._" The tears were granted freedom as they began to flow down her cheeks with a soothing coolness.

"_Hinata,_" a familiar voice spoke inside her mind. "_I need your eyes. Could you lend me a hand?_"

"_N-Naruto?!_" she responded mentally. "_Is that you?!_"

He chuckled. "_Of course it is! Who else could it be?_"

"_But… but there's darkness and… evil…_" She struggled to inwardly vocalize her thoughts.

Her worries warranted another light laugh. "_Don't worry about it. I'm in control of it. Things just look a little weird on the outside._"

The Hyuuga said nothing in return as she turned over his unspoken words in her mind.

"_Please, Hinata._" An image of the smiling blonde flashed in front of her for an infinitely small moment. "_I need you to trust me on this one. Could you do that for me?_"

Her fears began to wane as his soothing words consoled her. Her terror at the sight was still there, but it felt detached from the rest of her. For that one small moment, all she cared about was being with Naruto regardless of form. "_Yeah,_" she smiled. "_I can do that._"

She stopped pushing back the unholy energy and the tendrils slithered into her harmlessly. She shivered at the odd feeling when the strands cut off from the cloud and coursed uninterrupted through her veins. Her body suddenly felt incredibly light, even more so than if she was perfectly rested. Feeling her chakra spike to unimaginable levels, she activated her Byakugan to find the dueling siblings. She jolted back in surprise when she realized that her roundabout vision could see everything, living and inanimate, in perfect clarity for a hundred miles in every direction. She lifted her arms, glanced at them, and found that the dark energy had mixed perfectly with her own chakra and showed no signs of diminishing any time soon.

"_Pretty crazy, huh?_" Uzi's voice spoke again in her mind. "_But that can wait. Do you see them?_"

"Oh, right." She took in their surroundings and instantly saw the brothers hacking away at each other a few blocks away. She pointed in their direction even though she somehow felt that the blonde knew. "Coupla' blocks that way."

"_**Then let's go!**_" his multilayered voice said excitedly before the mist shot away in a basic spiral pattern with the blue-haired woman in tow.

Hinata was surprised at her progress. She expected each step to feel like one; her strides only going as far as her limbs could reach. Instead, dark fog tapered off from Naruto's form and planted itself at her feet, propelling her forward at incredible speeds while acting as a physical stepping stone. She kept pace with the new Master, wisps of inky smoke trailing from the veins in her eyes and from random points along her slender form. In what had to be no more than four seconds, the supercharged duo was right on top of the brothers.

The Hyuuga made eye contact with Itachi as she glided over the half-destroyed wall. She blinked and suddenly found herself in a bizarre world.

The colors of her surroundings were sharp and heavily contrasted. A red moon hung in the sky and cast a bloody crimson over the endless rolling hills. She looked forward and found an ebony silhouette of the older Uchiha outlined in pristine white.

"It appears I performed the technique in time," the eastern criminal commented quietly.

"What is this place?!" she demanded when she realized she was strapped to a heavy pole.

"This is your subconscious," he explained. She looked around and recognized the distorted scenery. "I have performed the Tsukuyomi technique on you."

"What the hell is that?!" She struggled against the immobile ropes.

"This can only be performed with the Mangekyo Sharingan and allows me to control the passage of time within this world."

"And…?!" She was begging to become irritated at his calm demeanor.

"I do not have the time or patience at the moment to use it to its full potential, so I shall only keep you here for one day while you endure the torture."

She laughed in his face despite being in no position to strike back. "Is that so? Looks like there's something you forgot…"

The elder brother pondered the meaning for only a moment before attempting to raise his sword. Upon doing so, he realized he couldn't move a muscle and glanced in every direction.

"_**Aww…**_" a feminine voice spoke into his right ear. "_**Looks like he's past his prime. Such a shame too…**_"

The Hyuuga, suddenly no longer bound to the post, strolled up to the frozen man with a triumphant grin on her face. "I have some friends now," she claimed quietly as the sky clouded over and shrouded the red moon behind a veil of impenetrable darkness. Inky clouds began to drift downwards and sharp non-corporeal slivers shot out and buried themselves into every pore of his body.

He felt the reflex to choke, but it felt as if every muscle fiber in his body was held in place. Pain unimaginable surged through his body as the tendrils burned like lava in his veins.

"_**Dance puppet, dance!**_" an arrogant voice shouted and Itachi began moving against his will. Every movement felt as if his bones and muscles would tear apart and the fire within burned with impossible ferocity. He wanted to scream against the pain, but his jaw was held shut by the absolute grip of unholy agony. His arm lifted the sword and promptly jammed it through his abdomen. The blade was so cold that the sensation of heat was greater than the lava boiling in his veins. His arm retracted the weapon and the wound closed as the frozen metal left his body. The disobedient limb repeated the process two more times in varying locations before the white-eyed woman leaned forward to say something.

"You really _can_ control time in here, can't you?" Hinata taunted. A strand of shadowy dust passed by her ear and whispered something. "That was only one second by your watch."

The Uchiha screamed mentally, seeing as that was all he could do before the limb plunged the sword into his leg and slowly twisted.

-----------------------

The elder easterner suddenly gasped for air and faltered in position. He took several deep gulps of refreshing atmosphere before peering up at the cloud of unholy fog that was almost on him. He pulled himself together to replace his body with a nearby object, but he knew it wouldn't be in time...

Until a wall of electricity came between him and the misty entity. "Don't you dare!!" Sasuke shouted as his free hand extended a chakra spear into the center of the dark mass. "_Where the hell is Naruto?!_" he wondered, as even his Sharingan couldn't penetrate the inky fog. "_He's gotta be in the middle of all that…_"

His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a gaping hole that opened around his energy blade. The opening formed tendrils for intermittent teeth and bit down. The revenge seeking man dispersed the temporary sword before it got sucked into the void. Upon closing, the dripping mouth reformed against the electric barricade and repeated the process of swallowing chakra.

While Uzi dealt with the younger brother, the Hyuuga dashed past them to catch Itachi, only to find him switch places with another lump of concrete. Her superior vision instantly found him and she angled herself towards him in midair by using a smattering of evil mist for a makeshift launching platform.

Naruto decided to bypass the younger brother and repositioned himself directly behind Hinata. He followed her into a hollowed out building as she stepped rapidly through the air on wisps of smoke and charged effortlessly through the empty floor. He could feel his energy in her mind telling him that the target was on the other side. A sudden impulse told him to cover the building in smoke and he obeyed the urge. The supports crumbled like old bread as his dark tendrils passed through them and the impenetrable fog deteriorated the concrete without issue.

The duo flew out unharmed on the other side of the structure as it collapsed. The older Uchiha was standing in an opening in a small glass skyscraper across the street awaiting them to fall into his trap. He felt a smirk tugging at his lips as the duo got closer…

But it faded when he saw Sasuke flying over the demolished structure on wings comprised of massive fingers. Uzi and his companion also noted the younger sibling along with his new appearance. The supercharged easterners stopped in midair and eyed the oncoming avenger.

The transformed Sharingan user, in addition to his bizarre appendages, now possessed a beastlike mane of dark hair, discolored flesh, and murky eyes. He sheathed his sword while his wings flapped in the wind and his body crackled with reflective onyx lightning. "Itachi is mine!!"

Hinata regarded the former comrade with cold eyes. She now knew that he had forsaken too much to be brought back. Even Naruto and she, despite housing a portion of the powers of the seven deadly sins, merely manipulated it to their bidding. She glanced at the blonde next to her and could easily see his shadowy form within the cloud. Her eyes widened ever so slightly when the mist began to fall behind him and his face appeared amidst the receding fog with an ink like smile.

"_**Now this is more like it!**_" Uzi's chorale voice exclaimed. His glossy yellow eyes shined with excitement and the Hyuuga couldn't help but be caught up in his enthusiasm.

"Yes it is!" she yelled ecstatically with a wide grin. She knew the darkness in their minds was influencing their moods, but the adrenaline rush was too great to ignore this time.

The blonde's smiling face turned to hers as the mist enveloped him again. "_**Let's do this thing, Hinata!**_"

She smiled back with an intensity she never knew she had. "Lets!"

* * *

Alright! My little piece of shi... artwork is as done as I care for it to be. Like I said before, I'll post it with the other contestants upon completion of this story. For those of you who asked for an extension (you know who you are), you know I don't really care how long it takes. Just get it to me whenever you feel it's ready and I'll post it with the rest.

Rock 'n Roll!


	45. Exit! Final Act of Asskickin heroes!

W00t! If you read the title, you should realize that this is... wait for it...

THE FINALE!!!

So I lied about there being 2 chapters, but considering how long my updates are, this is roughly the same size as two.

Quick little note before you read: As promised, I posted the artwork of Naruto (and Hinata if you look at mine). It's hyperlinked on my author profile page, but I would suggest you read this chapter **before** looking at my image. There's a bit of a... spoiler in it that I'm sure would ruin things for you if you knew about it beforehand. Now, on with it!

usual disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but look at this piece of work! I really should!

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Daemon sat peacefully against the gargoyle on the tiered roof of a badly damaged skyscraper taking in the smoking scenery. When he returned to the battle with the eastern swordsmen, the location had moved to this building and, after a while of fighting, promptly ended there. The so-called 'Samehada' sword laid in pieces at his feet and the large slab of a sword carried by the smaller easterner sat behind him, cleaved cleanly in two. As his eyes gazed at the distant quivering of dark mist emanating from Uzi and the Hyuuga, he sighed hard, releasing a small jet of pristine steam from his lips to cool himself down. Only one person understood him well enough to know that this was a subtle sign of irritation for the demon slayer.

He was sorely disappointed by the eastern specialists. His long smooth blade pierced the younger man only once after slicing through his weapon, causing his liquid body to instantly evaporate due to the intense heat of the new Master's sword. The fishlike man was no better; his wide swings and flagrant disregard for tight control of his energy left him open in so many ways that Daemon deeply questioned his status as a high-ranking specialist. His aggravated mindset was interrupted by the arrival of another recently anointed Master.

"Vahre Blus," the swordsman greeted sullenly without averting his eyes. "I see that your work isn't quite done. What's up?"

The vampire settled into a comfortable standing position, his wings folding over his massive frame. His latent abilities left much to be desired in the way of personal relaxation. "My subordinates are working in my stead for the time being. I trust you are aware of the reasons for my visit?"

"Of course," he dully answered while aiming a finger at the eastern Master and his blue-haired companion. "You're curious too, aint'cha?"

"Master Sünden was concerned about it."

"Don't see why," the demon slayer leaned back further and stretched his arms. "Naruto can take care of himself."

Vahre Blus eyed him with mild annoyance. "That's not it, and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he shrugged. "Seems to me that you should ask Nephil about it. He knows more in that field than I do."

"I would like to hear your observations anyway."

The swordsman Master scrunched his face up in thought. "Well, I can tell you what it's not…"

"And that would be…"

"It's not evil. Nothing demonic about it."

A faint glow of brilliant white flashed behind them and they turned casually to glance at the newest arrival.

"You summoned me?" Nephil asked as he slung his insanely large rifle across his shoulders.

"Yes," the vampiric Master replied. He leaned his head in Uzi's direction and asked, "What do you make of that?"

The sniper specialist glanced at the massive dark cloud and shrugged. "That's Naruto using his new power."

"We're not talkin' about him," Daemon clarified.

The red-eyed commander's eyes blazed brightly as the cross-hairs in his orange pupils fluctuated and he gazed across the burning distance at the white-eyed woman. His eyes went wide when he saw wisps of ebony smoke flow from her.

"Well?"

His lips curled into a 'how-about-that' smile. "I'll be damned. I never knew there was another person like me."

"I told him you would probably know," the demon slayer pointed out. "Looks like I was right."

"Yeah, yeah," he nodded, still awestruck by his discovery.

"She has your ability as well?" Vahre Blus demurely inquired.

Nephil looked the vampire in the eyes with a wide grin. "Yeah, but it's a lot stronger..."

------------------------

Sasuke was using his hand like wings to fly by the many buildings on that street while trying to determine his next course of action. He couldn't figure out for the life of him how to land a blow against Naruto, so most of his attempts were aimed at the corporeal Hinata. He suddenly redirected his flight pattern to the other side of the street as the structure next to him exploded in a hail of dark mist and onyx tendrils.

He glanced back to find the strands of evil chakra spiraling towards him, falling short by inches but keeping up nonetheless. His bloodline eyes peered forward again and he banked upwards when he saw the Hyuuga flying up from below using tufts of ebony smoke as steps. Her acceleration slowed as he flew higher and he could feel her energy brush against his heel. His leg suddenly burned as the miniscule amount of chakra was released into his limb before the woman broke off her pursuit and pulled the tendril back.

Now that he was damn near in the clouds, he gazed down and saw that both easterners decided to attack his brother. "_Smart move,_" he praised them only in his mind. "_Lure me all the way out here so I won't be there to keep you from stealing my revenge._" His wings flapped in the opposite direction and he propelled himself back down to the earth.

"_**Why'd you stop?**_" Uzi's multilayered voice asked the blue-haired woman as quietly as it could. "_**You almost had him.**_"

"My steps disappeared," she answered. "You didn't follow me that time."

"_**Hmm… you must not be able to use them if I'm not nearby.**_"

"Could be. Let's take out Itachi before worrying about Sasuke."

"_**Sounds like a plan. He was a letdown anyway.**_"

The duo sped towards the ground and found the aforementioned Uchiha where they left him. As they barreled through the sky like an unholy meteor, Hinata noticed that the inside of the glass building in which he was residing was lined with tags of some sort. "I think he laid a trap…" she began.

She didn't finish her statement when the glass on that entire side of the skyscraper exploded outwards in a sea of reflective shrapnel. The Hyuuga began knocking away the sharp bits that would intercept her, causing her arms to appear as blurs. Through her supercharged Byakugan, she could see that Naruto didn't even try to dodge the shrapnel; it passed through him as if he weren't there. She found herself smiling that she could see his silhouetted body through the inky mist when she noticed an amazing buildup of chakra coming from within the building.

The older Sharingan user was about to implement the second portion of his trap. While his targets were busy moving glass out of the way, he formed the appropriate seals and built up a special batch of chakra in his lungs. He took the deepest breath humanly possible and exhaled ferociously, spewing forth a massive stream of ebony fire. He was reasonably certain that there was nothing his opponents could do at this range except take the hit.

Hinata was momentarily horrified. "I can't block this!" she exclaimed while instinctively barring her arms to keep the flames at bay, even though she could tell from the quality of chakra that it was a futile move. She grit her teeth when she noticed a few dozen tendrils extend from Uzi's mist and position themselves in front of her. The dark cloud extended into the outstretched fibers and opened to form a massive mouth. The ebony fire hit the opening and was immediately sucked into the void. She blinked in amused surprise and realized that Itachi was doing the same, albeit not for the same reasons. She smirked when they finally crashed onto his floor…

And felt annoyance when the building rumbled. She whipped her head around and was almost floored by the sight. Outside the structure, Sasuke stood tall on the head of an impossibly large snake.

"What the hell, boy?!" the snake hissed. "You bring me out here without even having a sacrifice prepared?!"

The mutated Sharingan user aimed his sword at the dark cloud. "You can have him."

"That's not enough!" the reptile retorted.

"I'll prepare more sacrifices after this, Manda."

"You better! Now, time to eat!" The massive animal shot forward, mouth open, with the intent to swallow the strange fog whole.

"What the hell is that?!" Hinata shouted. When the snake advanced, she noticed that Naruto's onyx smile had reappeared as the misty form began to laugh. "Naruto," she started apprehensively, "What are you doing…?!"

The cloud responded by cackling harder. Uzi's head shot back and he exclaimed enthusiastically, "_**A big snake?! Is that the best you can do?!**_" His head lowered, although the white-eyed woman was the only one who could tell. "_**Tell you what; I'll humor you! Come on, snakey!**_" When the gaping mouth began to shut, the mist condensed into inky tendrils and shot down the reptile's throat.

"That tasted like shit!" Manda complained.

The Hyuuga's eyes widened and she smiled maniacally. She knew that being swallowed whole by a large animal wouldn't even slow the blonde down. Noting that the revenge-consumed Uchiha had leapt off the snake's head and was charging hell bent for a retreating Itachi, she positioned herself in his way and charged her limbs with the evil chakra.

"Out of my way!!" he shouted as he slammed into her and discharged a mass of onyx electricity into her. She faltered for a moment and he grinned inwardly.

But instead of falling over as he expected, she straightened up and smiled at him. "That tickles!" she giggled as the modified chakra coursed through her. "I hope you weren't serious about that," she taunted through chuckles.

_This_ pissed the younger Sharingan user off. This was a high-level technique in his book, and she was literally treating it like a feather. His anger took over his mind and he exploded. "You _bitch_!!" he screamed in her face. "Move it you _fucking whore_!!"

Hinata's good nature instantly died. "What?" she asked flatly. She could feel a surge of unnatural rage building up in the back of her mind.

"You heard me!! Get out of my way you Hyuuga _bitch_!!"

Her eye twitched as her anger grew. She wanted to say something but felt compelled to let her actions speak for her. For some reason, it felt like someone else was listening to her thoughts.

Before she could retaliate, the massive snake outside began hissing in pain. Curiosity not withstanding, the deadlocked enemies peered back to find long inky tendrils piercing outwards from Manda's scaly hide. The summoned creature flung itself wildly against anything in its way in a futile attempt to end the agony. The desired effect came when its body burst open to reveal Naruto's misty form and outstretched fibers.

"_**What did you say?!**_" the blonde demanded. The white-eyed woman wondered if he somehow heard Sasuke's insults.

The younger sibling merely glared at him in response. He felt a mixture of anger and awe at the incredible display of power radiating from Uzi.

"_**Did you just call her what I think you did?!**_" The multitude of voices began to change into a more ominous tone. The Uchiha knew he heard it before…

"Yeah!!" he shouted back without thinking. "So what if I did?!"

"_**Ira!**_" he called. "_**You wanna go at him?!**_"

"_**Yeeeeeesssssss!**_" a distinctly separate voice shrieked. It was filled with contempt and bubbled with hatred. "_**Kiiiilllll**_" it screamed before the cloud and its tendrils shot forward with newfound speed.

The avenger instantly released the woman and charged hell-bent to the side, slicing openings through the walls with his sword and electric chakra. Despite the fact that he had never run this fast in his life, the mist had no problems keeping up. In fact, it was gaining on him.

He burst through the final wall and found himself high in the air. His wings caught the wind and soared through the sky with the black mass in tow. Sasuke willed himself to not look back this time as he flew for his life. He could hear the Hyuuga catch up to the cloud and say something inaudible to his sharp ears. Immediately afterwards, he felt the aura of hatred rescind a bit and the pursuing fog didn't seem quite as murderous.

"_**Oh, Sasuke…**_" the familiar mulitvoice of Naruto cooed mockingly. "_**Where're you goin'?! I thought we were friends! Why can't we just…**_" A single tendril latched onto a finger of the right wing and bit into it. "_**Talk!!**_"

The Uchiha felt his velocity lower as a sharp pain shot through his right curse seal appendage. He whipped out his sword and sliced the demonic limb off in one motion, replacing the wing with multiple snakes the moment it was cleaved from his back. The gigantic hand was sucked into the void and disappeared from the world.

"_**Oh, now that was gutsy! What a shame there aren't more people like you!**_"

The avenger heard something like a grunt emanate from behind and he suddenly jerked back. His head swiveled around to find Hinata clutching one of his snakes with a grip reinforced by tiny sharp fibers extending from her fingers. He swung his sword to either slice off the snake or injure his living anchor, but she caught his blade between two fingers of her free hand. Her uninjured digits bent the previously believed indestructible metal to establish an absolute hold on the weapon as the ebony haze caught up with them.

His eyes widened as the mist's inky tendrils wrapped around him and dug into his skin. He shrieked in pain as the cloud parted to reveal the dark silhouetted form of Uzi and the fibers pulled him in close.

The blonde's onyx hands grasped the sides of the avenger's face as the mist began to reform around them. The Uchiha felt nothing but sheer terror as his body was masked by the unholy shroud and he sputtered in fear at the glossy yellow eyes and pitch black smile staring him in the face.

"_**Look on the bright side,**_" the new Master said playfully. "_**You put up a more amusing fight than your brother.**_"

The fog crept up the Sharingan user's face and he screamed in horror. As the remnant of his head was consumed, he felt numb; there was a sensation of total nothingness wherever the mist caressed. Slowly yet surely the haze crept around his features while he shrieked, swallowing everything and leaving his eyes for last. His bloodline eyes produced a few drops of salty tears before the cloud covered them as well, effectively ending the man's existence.

"_**Now,**_" Naruto turned cheerfully to the Hyuuga. "_**Let's go take care of Itachi.**_"

"Right," she replied with a smile as her Byakugan searched out the eldest brother.

-------------------------

The eastern rogue ninja stumbled through back alleys as he slowly retreated from the battle. In the course of one day, his most powerful techniques had been rendered worthless and even turned against him. His constant use of the Mangekyo Sharingan to no avail had left him dangerously low on chakra, so he now ran with normal eyes. He was outmatched and he knew it.

He could no longer feel Kisame's presence, so he had no backup whatsoever. As he pondered his situation, he recalled how his late partner had complained of not acting soon enough. He cursed himself mentally for not following the sound advice of the fish-man and opting to wait until it was too late.

Slumping down in a maze of dirty back alleys, he hoped that he put enough distance between him and his combatants to buy enough time to make a proper escape. He was frighteningly aware that the Hyuuga woman could easily find him, although he was unsure as to the extent of her abilities now that she harbored some of the evil energy.

"_What is that, anyway?_" he mused inwardly. "_I've never seen anything like it before. Not even Madara has strength like that. Is there any hope of controlling such a force?_" He shook his head at the thought. "_No. Forget controlling it; is there any way to defeat it? It mustn't be allowed to exist…_"

He jumped to a sound at the end of the alley, glancing nervously at the opening to find it was merely a loose brick falling to the earth. Hunkering back down behind the large dumpster, he sunk back into his inner conversation.

"_There may be a way to defeat it. Eight of the nine tailed beasts are already sealed in the weapon, so even though it's incomplete, it may have just enough power to weaken it to the point of killing its host._" He congratulated himself at his intuitive observation. "_It also seems that Uzumaki is either unwilling or unable to utilize the nine-tailed fox's chakra while using the darkness. It might even be safe to assume that he can't use the fox's energy at all anymore…_" Another jarring sound shook him from his thoughts. He glanced in front of the garbage disposal unit to his side to find another fallen brick. Sighing lightly in relief, he leaned back against the wall and continued his mental monologue.

He felt an unusual sense of happiness of being alive. While he had been soundly beaten, he had survived a force unknown to the strongest beings on the planet. For a moment, he was glad to be alive and felt a pang of regret for all those he had forced to the netherworld. Old memories of Konoha began to resurface as his life repeated itself in his mind. As thoughts of his family were dug up, he felt an odd sadness of his actions towards his clan. For the first time since he could remember, a small tear welled in his eye. It almost escaped when he blinked and saw a dreadfully familiar wisp of dark haze float past his head.

"How sweet," a feminine voice from above broke the silence. "He's regretting things… I guess that's you call a near death experience."

His head shot up to find Hinata hovering over him. Somehow, she had come to rest in a squat on top of his dumpster cover without him catching on. Panic flooded his mind when she raised two fingers, closed an eye, and pointed at him. He fled down the maze of alleys and turned corners at random until he hit what he feared the most: a dead end. He turned around to backtrack but was met with the blue-haired woman staring him down, fingers still aimed at him. His mind froze when the onyx mist appeared from behind her and shot towards him. He saw a massive void of a mouth with inky tendrils for teeth open and angle downwards to swallow him whole…

And for the first and final time in his life, he screamed.

In no more than a moment, the darkness consumed Itachi and the last known Uchiha was gone. The haze condensed to form the silhouette of Naruto and the black fibers twirled in the air as they shrunk and layered themselves over their owner. As the evil power receded, the blonde strolled back to the diminishing daylight to join his blue-haired companion.

As her crush neared her, the Hyuuga pushed back ever so slightly against the darkness in her body and it ceased flowing. She felt the intruding voices and moods in her mind diminish but not disappear for some reason. As she focused on trying to silence them altogether, she noticed that there were more unfamiliar voices in her head. She listened intently and held her breath when she realized they were normal people. When the blonde stepped out into the waning sunlight, she gazed at him with newfound wonder.

The unholy haze had completely sealed itself up as the blonde approached his companion. He was about to congratulate her on a job well done when she glanced at him and gave him an unexpected surprise. He strode up to her while activating his crimson eyes and grasped her gently around her arms. "Hinata…" he spoke in a far off tone peppered with shock and awe. "You… you're…" A genuine smile exploded onto his face. "You're a red-eye!"

She blinked and felt an unusual sensation. As she gazed into the shining red and blue eyes of her crush, she felt the crimson sea surrounding her lavender pupils flare up and delve into his mind.

In that instant, their crimson eyes exchanged every thought and emotion they possessed towards each other. Uzumaki truthfully understood what the red-eyed woman in his arms felt about him and the Hyuuga clearly saw how close the blonde Master felt to her. Everything they could and couldn't vocalize passed to the other's consciousness and the duo realized how much they cared for each other.

"Naruto, you…" she choked as a tear of joy rolled down her cheek. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

Uzi returned the gesture and softly clasped her face with his tattooed hand. He lifted her face to his and kissed her as passionately as he could.

As the sun sank below the devastated scenery, the easterners never broke the kiss. Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga loved each other with all their hearts.

---------------------------

A large chamber devoid of illumination came to life as six figures broke the silence with projected versions of themselves. The purported leader of the group glanced at the two actual inhabitants of the room with ringed eyes.

"It seems Itachi and Kisame have failed," his distorted voice stated. "Zetsu has informed me of Naruto Uzumaki's growth, and I am certain that he will prove to be a troublesome target." A strange cloaked man emerged from the ground and faced the leader's hologram. "There are now two more positions within this organization. If you wish, you may fill them."

"Yes, yes!" a masked man exclaimed as he bounced up and down. "I still want in!"

The second shadowed figure merely dipped a bit as its head nodded.

"Very well. Zetsu, give them the rings." The plant-like man held out his hand and presented the finger adornments. "Itachi's was lost and forging a suitable replacement was a difficult endeavor. Don't loose it."

Tobi snatched his ring and excitedly slipped it over his thumb, dribbling like an idiot while the silent phantom slipped his quietly over his ring finger and lowered his arm to his side. As soon as the shadowed hand came to rest on the armor over his leg, his eyes flared a deep crimson in acknowledgment.

* * *

Who is this mysterious new addition to the Akatsuki organization?!

Whatever could Hinata's "unknown" power be?!

And will I ever stop using awesome cliffhangers?!

All these questions can and will be answered in the sequel! Stay tuned!

In all honesty, I'm probably gonna take a little break (like a week or so... whatever I feel like) before starting the continuation of this. In the meantime, leave a review! I mean it this time, if you've been reading this story all along and have enjoyed it (you'd have to in order to be reading this), leave a review telling me what you liked, didn't like, thought was awesome, thought what sucked, and anything else you can think of that could point out how I could do better or not try to fix 'cause it ain't broke. I wanna hear your detailed thoughts!

On that note, I bid you faithful adieu... for now.

-Stigma


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